Sindh governor’s political lobbying irks MPAs

They urge CJP to take notice of his attempts to garner support for Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

KARACHI: Members of the provincial assembly have been irked by Governor Mohammad Zubair’s attempts to garner the support for Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) prime minister candidate Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. They demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan take suo motu notice of the matter.

During the assembly session on Monday, lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) termed Zubair’s visit to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) office with other PML-N leaders a ‘violation of the law’. "As per the law, the governor and president of Pakistan should work as an independent and avoid supporting political parties; but this is not the case of the Sindh governor who has started lobbying for the election of Nawaz Sharif’s candidate," said PPP MPA Dr Sohrab Sarki.

"On one hand, the governor creates a problem when he refuses to sign assembly bills, on the other he has setup a PML-N camp office in Governor House from where he organises the party," accused the MPA, adding that the governor has no right to ask any party for votes.



PTI parliamentary leader Samar Ali Khan endorsed Dr Sarki’s words and said the governor had a constitutional position and the Chief Justice of Pakistan must take notice of the misuse of power. "We condemn this approach of representing a party inside Governor House. This practice will further ruin our institutions and lead to confrontation. The authorities concerned must take notice of it," he urged.

Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah demanded Zubair be removed from the post of governor. "There is no need for a governor who has failed to maintain the decorum of his office and violates his constitutional position," he said.

Quota increased

The assembly unanimously passed a law to enhance the job 2% quota for differently-abled persons to 5%. The bill, the Sindh Differently-abled Persons (Employment, Rehabilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2017, was moved by Parliamentary Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro.

"The Cabinet has already approved this bill and all parties in the House support it," he said, while presenting the bill.

Speaker irked

When the session began, with speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in chair, there was thin attendance. This annoyed Durrani who said it seemed as if no one was interested in the session. “Most of the members either sit in the lobbies or cafeteria," he commented, warning lawmakers to attend the sessions properly, otherwise he would adjourn the proceedings without taking up business.



Suicide threat

In a strange development, MQM MPA Zafar Kamal threatened to commit suicide ‘in front of the assembly’ if the issues of 50 employees working at the Mirpurkhas Intermediate Board were not resolved.

"These employees have suddenly been demoted," he explained, adding that the PPP government is victimising the employees in order to fill their positions with political appointees. "I have been raising this issue but nothing has been done. I will commit suicide in front of the assembly if no one resolves this problem," he warned.

Fellow MQM member Sabir Qaimkhani cried foul over the targeted killings of their workers in Karachi and said recently a vice-chairman of a union committee was killed but no one has taken notice of it. Shah assured him that he would speak to the home minister and provincial inspector-general of police to provide relief to the victim’s family.

During the question and answer session, Khuhro informed the assembly that the government has provided alternative living accommodations to more than 400 families who have displaced due to mega projects.



Saifuddin Khalid of the MQM moved a call attention notice and asked the local government minister when the issue of drinking water will be resolved in his constituency, Orangi Town. The local government minister promised to provide water within a few days.

Later, the speaker prorogued the session for an indefinite time.