KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly witnessed a rumpus on Monday when lawmakers belonging to the combined opposition parties surrounded the rostrum, tore up copies of the agenda and staged a walkout in protest over the attitude of Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani for not allowing the opposition lawmakers to speak.

The seventh session of the Sindh Assembly, which began on Monday, saw in total of three walkouts, first by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, then by members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and PML-Nawaz and later by all members of the three opposition parties.

The third walkout was actually the boycott by the opposition parties of the rest of the proceedings, as they did not return and the house took business in their absence.

Taking notice of the attitude of the opposition legislators, Speaker Durrani termed it an insult not only to the assembly but also to the Constitution. He suggested that the members involved in that disgraceful act should be censured by the house.

Senior Minister Nisar Khuhro seconded the speaker’s view and suggested that a censure motion be tabled to criticise those MPAs who tore up copies of the rules of business as well as the agenda.

When the house was called to order at 11.15am, Speaker Durrani welcomed lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf — Samar Ali Khan, Syed Hafeezuddin, Khurram Sher Zaman and Dr Seema Zia — and hoped that they would serve the people of the area they represented.

Muhammad Hussain of the MQM wanted to raise a point of order to highlight the problems of the families of those arrested in a pre-dawn raid in and around the MQM headquarters, Nine Zero, on March 11.

But the speaker did not allow him and said that the point of order could not be raised in violation of rules. “You can discuss this by tabling an adjournment motion. This matter is in court and you have to approach the court for meeting the arrested persons,” he said and waved the book of the rules of business.

The MQM lawmakers staged a token walkout and later returned to the house.

After the questions hour, PML-F and PML-N lawmakers also staged a walkout as Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza, who was chairing the session, did not allow them to raise the issue of non-availability of gunny bags.Taking up the call-attention notice, the chair gave the floor to MQM’s Waqar Hussain Shah, but Mr Hussain stood up and tried to raise the issue of the resignation of the PTI lawmakers. Ms Raza did not allow him and there was an exchange of harsh words between them when Mr Hussain alleged that she was not running the house in accordance with the rules.

She said being a senior member of the house he must know that so far no notification regarding the resignations of the PTI members was issued.

She reminded Mr Hussain that he could not talk to the speaker like this and sarcastically advised him to go and take some tuition classes. On protest of Mr Hussain, she said he had wasted the time of the house.

As some of the opposition lawmakers converged around the rostrum and shouted slogans, she once again tried to give the floor to Mr Shah, but failed to restore order and adjourned the session for 10 minutes at 1.20pm.

As soon as 10 minutes were over, PML-N MPA Sorath Thebo reached near the chair of the speaker but before she could speak from the rostrum, Speaker Durrani entered the house to take his chair.

He asked the woman MPA to show respect to the house and take her seat.

After taking up business from the agenda, the speaker asked leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Shaharyar Mahar to speak. However, he insisted that the deputy speaker had wasted the house’s time so he should be allowed to raise a call-attention notice.

However, when the speaker refused to oblige him, the PML-F and PML-N lawmakers converged around the rostrum. In the meanwhile, the speaker gave floor to parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikander Mandhro, who amid the opposition’s slogan-chanting, read out six bills signed by the governor recently.

Without taking into consideration the opposition’s protest, the minister also laid three ordinances. Lawmakers belonging to the MQM also joined the protest and later the three opposition parties jointly staged a walkout after tearing up copies of the agenda. They did not return to the house, which was later adjourned by the speaker at 2.35pm to meet again on Tuesday.

The house also passed a resolution paying rich tributes to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on his 36th death anniversary.

Before the chair called it a day, Finance Minister Syed Murad Al Shah made a policy statement linking the power policy with the gas issue and made it clear that the Sindh government would not approve the power policy of the federal government until the rights of the people under Article 158 of the Constitution were given.

He said the interior of Sindh was facing loadshedding of 18 to 20 hours on a daily basis. Why people were being punished for the incompetence of the the federal institutions which had failed to recover their dues, he asked.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2015

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