KARACHI, Aug 18: Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro on Friday slammed the government for not taking adequate measures to prevent massive dislocation of civic life and infrastructure in the current monsoon rains, and condemned the adjournment of assembly session for 10 days on the pretext of bad weather.

Addressing a news conference after the adjournment, Mr Khuhro accused Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah of trying to save the treasury benches and the provincial government, which had failed to provide relief to the rain-affected people.

He claimed that the speaker had lost his credibility after playing a partisan role which had also forced the opposition to move a no-confidence motion against him. He also accused the government of misleading people and playing blame game.

Mr Khuhro said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which was talking about rights of 98 per cent people, was opposing payment of compensation to the affected people. He said that according to rules and procedures, the assembly could not be prorogued without completing the items of the agenda of the requisitioned session. He said that the speaker had the powers to convene and prorogue the requisition session and there was no need to seek the treasury benches’ opinion in this regard.

Mr Khuhro said that it had remained a practice that the requisition session was convened on Friday and after one hour of proceedings, it was adjourned till Monday. In fact, he added, the government took advantage of this adjournment as the two days had been counted with the assembly’s mandatory days.

He said that the opposition wanted to discuss the alleged underhand deals in the name of privatisation, especially of the Pakistan Steel.

The opposition leader, who is a PPP Parliamentarian, also reiterated his party’s claim that the government was preparing a bogus list of voters, and slammed the disbanding of teachers’ union, precarious law and order situation, apathy towards the losses caused by the monsoon rains, and failure of the provincial government in protecting rights of the province. Mr Khuhro said the opposition had requisitioned the session to discuss all these issues and to expose the provincial government after its complete failure.

Mr Khuhro alleged that the people were being asked to approach the MQM’s sector and unit offices for their enrollment in the voters’ list. He said the election staff had virtually been held hostage and confined to the offices of the MQM. He regretted that despite complaints submitted with the election commission, no action was being taken in this regard.

Accusing President Gen Pervez Musharraf of patronising the ‘corrupt’ government, Mr Khuhro said that the Council of Common Interest (CCI) had been constituted only to provide a shelter to the corrupt people involved in the Pakistan Steel deal. He also accused Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim of dealing with the Islamabad to save his position.

He slammed the federal government for making a mockery of the CCI, and said that a conference of the opposition leaders from all four provinces would be convened next month to discuss the CCI and its decisions.