KARACHI, Dec 5: The Sindh Assembly was prorogued to make way for the re-promulgation of the Sindh Local Government Amended Ordinance-2001 as the ordinance had completed its three-month validity and the governor was not authorized to promulgate it again while the assembly was in session.

This was claimed by PPP MPA Syed Murad Ali Shah while talking to a group of journalists in the chamber of the leader of the opposition after the assembly session was prorogued on Monday.

He recalled that the ordinance had been promulgated on June 7, 2005 and re-promulgated in September while the assembly was not in session. It was to become infructuous on December 6.

He referred to the constitutional provisions under which an ordinance stands infructuous if not revalidated by the governor before the last day of its three-month period or is got approved by the assembly. “Therefore, the governor prorogued the assembly session,” he insisted.

The MPA said that the opposition had proposed some 50 amendments to the ordinance which would have been discussed if the ordinance was presented before the house for consideration.

He said that through an amended to the ordinance, the Sindh coalition had appointed government officers as ‘caretakers’ to replace nazims of district, town, taluka and union council administrations within 24 hours of the announcement with regard to the local body election schedule.

Had the ordinance not been promulgated before the expiry date, the same would have become infructuous and resultantly the entire edifice of the newly-introduced local government system would have collapsed, he said.