LARKANA, Feb 7: The District Council Larkana held a no-confidence motion against Naib Nazim Syed Ali Raza Shah on Saturday in the special session. The PML-backed Khushhal Pakistan Panel and SNF members took part in the voting while the PPP-backed Awam Dost Panel stayed away from the session.

Some 32 votes were cast against the Naib Nazim while senior presiding officer Babu Serwar Seyal chaired the session.

Nazim Syed Sikandar Shah and Nazim Mumtaz Brohi had moved the no-trust motion against District Naib Nazim. The charges levelled were corruption, rendering council ineffective and failing to hold mandatory session. The two had called for supporting their move in removing the naib nazim.

Munwar Abro berated him for not turning up to defend himself and called for his removal in the larger interest.

The presiding officer called the name of District Naib Nazim, Larkana to defend himself but he was not present in the session. When he announced holding secret voting on the no-confidence move, Abdul Aziz Chawro, Nazim Union Council Ratokot, terming the session and proceedings illegal and in violation of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001, boycotted the proceedings.

Later, all 32 members of KPP and SNF exercised their vote. The convener announced that the no-confidence motion submitted by two nazims was unanimously supported. The result of the special session would be sent to Election Commission for notification he said and added till then the first senior most presiding officer of the district council Larkana Badar Abbasi would be acting District Naib Nazim.

District Naib Nazim Syed Ali Raza Shah while reacting to Saturday’s proceedings, called the activity as ‘contempt of court’. He said that the matter pertaining to another no-trust move application against him by Basheer Shaikh was already pending in the Sindh High Court Larkana Circuit Bench which would come up for hearing on Feb 17. While a similar move was in the court, tabling another was tantamount to contempt of court he said and disclosed that he had already served legal notices on the movers, first senior most presiding officer, and district nazim asking them to refrain from holding such session, as the matter was in the court. But on Saturday they held it, he said.

He said law was quite clear about summoning the session over no-confidence move where only the election commission was authorized to fix the date and summon the session. But a particular group had neither approached the election commission nor informed the members, he said.