KARACHI: The smooth running of business in the Sindh Assembly was interrupted on Thursday when opposition members staging a protest over not allowing their motions to be taken up, walked out of the house. Before the walkout, the opposition lawmakers tore up copies of the agenda and threatened that if they were not allowed to speak in the house, they would boycott the next session and carry out house proceedings on the steps of the assembly building.

Amid the opposition’s slogans of ‘shame, shame,’ Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza, who was presiding over the session, after the report on the government bill — The Sindh Livestock Breeding Bill, 2016 — was laid by Dr Khatumal Jeewan, a member of the relevant standing committee, the session, called to order at 11am, was adjourned at 1.40pm till 10am on Friday.

The chair was informed that there was no privilege motion in the order of the day as Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Sabir Qaimkhani asked about his motion he had earlier submitted to the assembly secretariat. The deputy speaker informed the house that it was disallowed in the chamber.

This ruling infuriated the mover and leader of the opposition Khwaja Izharul Hassan, who said that if the privilege and adjournment motions were killed in the chamber, how would the business from the opposition come up for deliberation in the house.

The rumpus started when the chair was informed that there was no privilege motion on the order of the day and MQM MPA Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani, rising in his seat, wanted to speak about his privilege motion he had submitted against the local government secretary. When the deputy speaker did not pay any attention to him, Khwaja Izhar regretted it saying that for some time, no business from the opposition was being taken up in the house “We don’t come here to listen to government business. If our point of view is not allowed to be aired, we will protest over it in the house and outside the chamber of the speaker.”

Addressing the deputy speaker, he said they could go to the Supreme Court against her attitude. “We would not surrender to your dictatorial and discriminatory attitude,” he thundered.

Shehla Raza reminded the opposition that under the rules of business the speaker had discretionary powers to reject any motion or resolution.

MQM parliamentary party leader Syed Sardar Ahmad said without providing an opportunity to members in the house, rejection of his motion was inappropriate

MQM MPA Mohammad Hussain said that there were some rules in the rules of business of the assembly which reflected a dictatorial attitude.

Deputy parliamentary leader of the MQM Faisal Sabzwari said the deputy speaker’s reference to the rules of business did not reflect her decisions.

Minister Dr Sikander Mandhro said the speaker enjoyed some discretionary powers under the assembly’s rules of business. However, if the speaker rejected the motion of any member in his chamber under the rules, the assembly secretariat informed the member concerned in writing the reasons for the action.

Syed Sardar Ahmad reminded the minister that those powers had been in the rules of business of the assembly for many decades but none of the speakers had ever exercised them before.

Khwaja Izhar said his colleague’s privilege motion was neither against the governor nor the chief minister, but against the secretary of the local government department who had insulted one of the opposition members.

Responding to the opposition’s remarks, Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza said it was quite surprising that the speaker’s ruling was being questioned. She said for her it was not possible to overrule the ruling of the speaker.

As the chair took up the next item from the agenda to present the report of the Standing Committee on the Sindh Livestock Breeding Bill, 2016, the opposition members chanting “shame, shame”, tore up copies of the agenda and walked out of the house.

Speaking to the media outside the assembly building, Khwaja Izharul Hasan said they had sent a message to the local government secretary to come to the assembly at 10.30am but if he did not turn up, their MPAs and people of the constituency would go to his office and tell him that “you are not an employee of the PPP but of the state to serve the people”.

Faisal Sabzwari said if elected representatives of the people would not raise the pressing issues in and outside the house, what forum was left to them to air their grievances? He said the deputy speaker was not aware of the content of the privilege motion and by not allowing the MPA to take up his motion, she had not breached the privilege of the MPA but that of millions of Latifabad’s taxpayers.

Earlier, Sabir Qaimkhani said his motion was about water supply and sewerage schemes of Latifabad whose PC-1 had been prepared and included in the budget by the then local government minister, but the local government secretary changed them arbitrarily.

Call attention notices

In response to a notice of Saifuddin Khalid of the MQM about the non-availability of drinking water to the people of district West, particularly in the Baba Wilayat Shah area of Orangi, with over 1.2 million population, Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro said the picture was not as bleak as was being projected and promised that he would order water supply to meet the needs of the people in summer.

In response to a notice of Khurram Sherzaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf regarding the leakage of water from a 54-inch diameter main in Lines Area for the last two years, the minister said the member met him daily but never mentioned it. He said he would inquire into the matter and take necessary action against the official responsible for the neglect.

Health Minister Dr Sikander Mandhro in response to a notice of Ghazala Sial of the PPP assured her that the government was taking necessary measures to control measles in the province.

In reply to a notice of Nusrat Sahar Abbasi of the PML-F regarding steps being taken to get the government buildings vacated from retired employees, minister Mandhro said that action had been initiated against 71 gazetted and 248 non-gazetted employees who despite retirement from service long ago were still in possession of government residences.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2017