Sindh Assembly session likely to be adjourned over death of MPA Murtaza Baloch

14 MPAs have tested positive for coronavirus to date

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly session scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) is likely to be adjourned following the death of sitting MPA and Sindh Human Settlements Minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch.

The session had been summoned on the requisition of the opposition parties, with over 50 MPAs belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) submitting an application early in May demanding a session to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and the measures taken by the provincial government to deal with the pandemic and provide relief to the needy

Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani had earlier summoned the session on May 20, later adjourning it without proceedings until today. The delay had caused an uproar among the opposition lawmakers, who had demanded Durrani's removal and called his actions illegal.

"We have made all necessary arrangements for the session, but unfortunately, since Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Baloch has passed away, we  will have to adjourn the session after Fateha," said Sindh Assembly secretary GM Farooq Buriro, referring to the assembly's tradition of adjourning the first session after the death of a sitting MPA.

Buriro further explained that they had set up a disinfection gate at the building and issued standard operating procedures for the proceedings, while also keeping sanitisers available at the entrance. The body temperatures of those passing through the disinfection tunnel will also be checked and recorded.

"All MPAs, assembly staff and security personnel attending the session were asked to be tested for the novel coronavirus, and no one will be allowed in the premises without wearing a face mask," he stated. "We have also cancelled the passes of officers or guests. Only MPAs, mediapersons, security and assembly staff are allowed."



Attendance at the session will be limited to a total of 85 MPAs - 52 belonging to the ruling PPP and 36 belonging to the opposition.


Testing positive

According to officials, after most of the MPAs were tested, 14 of them were found to have contracted the virus.
Those who had tested positive for Covid-19 included Ali Khurshidi, Mangla Sharma, Shah Nawaz Jadoon, Noor Ahmed Bhurgri, Sajid Jokhio, Sohrab Khan Sarki, Liaquat Ali Askani, Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani and Syed Abdul Rasheed, as well as Baloch. Ghani, Sharma and Rasheed have recovered from the disease.Fake domiciles

While the assembly proceedings were to be dedicated to the ongoing pandemic, opposition MPAs have demanded that the issue of fake domiciles and appointments made on their basis be discussed as well.

MQM-P's Khwaja Izharul Hasan and GDA's Nusrat Seher Abbasi tabled separate resolutions claiming that the Sindh government issued fake domiciles and sold government jobs and admissions.

Abbasi said that the matter had become a problem for the entire province, adding that the citizens of Sindh had a right to jobs in Sindh but their rights were being violated as a result of corruption and incompetence. She further said that her party rejected the committee formed by the government to probe the matter.

GDA's Hasnain Mirza added that the party demanded a parliamentarian committee for the investigation.

Meanwhile, MQM-P's Kunwar Naveed Jameel said jobs in Sindh should be given in accordance with the laws made by the Sindh government, while those appointed in violation of these laws should be terminated.

"Discrimination has been done between rural and urban citizens in Sindh and the current government is not only creating irregularities in the urban quota system but also appointing favoured individuals to government jobs," he claimed.