KARACHI, Feb 23: A member of the Sindh Assembly belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party, Mir Hassan Khoso, resigned from his seat and the party and joined the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Functional on Saturday.

Mr Khoso, who was elected from PS-15, Jacobabad 3 (Thull), called on PML-F chief Pir Pagara at the Raja House and announced his decision to join the PML-F.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Khoso said he and many other likeminded MPAs had remained absent from the assembly when the controversial Sindh People’s Local Government bill was passed last year.

He said he had maintained that he did not support the bill because it was against the interests of Sindh.

Since then resentment had developed between the PPP leadership and him and then his constituency was hit hard by rains and floods and a large number of affected people were forced to live in the open.

He said the affected people had been told that relief was not being provided to them because their MPA had not supported the local government law.

Mr Khoso said the situation had dejected him and his voters who had been voting for his family for decades, so he decided to leave the party.

“I have taken a principled decision and resigned from the government party and joined an opposition party and I will contest the coming election from that platform,” Mr Khoso said.

He said he had faxed his resignation to Speaker Nisar Khuhro and would also submit it by hand on Monday.

Sindh PPP general secretary Taj Haider said the development would have no effect on the party’s vote bank.