Sindh Assembly pays tribute to late minister

Session agenda deferred after death of Ghulam Murtaza Baloch

KARACHI: Paying rich tribute to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA and Sindh Human Settlements Minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, who passed away due to coronavirus on Tuesday, the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution to condole his death. Following the resolution, the session was adjourned until today (Thursday).

Moving the resolution, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the services rendered by Baloch for the PPP were matchless.

"He dedicated his entire life to the party," he said, adding that the late minister first won a provincial assembly seat in by-elections held in 2013, before later winning the seat in the 2018 general elections too.

Addressing assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, Shah expressed dismay that the session had been continued despite the death of a sitting MPA.



"We have a tradition in this house that the first session after the death of any sitting MPA is adjourned soon after Fateha. I don't know why we have continued the proceedings," he said, referring to the oath-taking ceremony of PPP MPA Sharmila Farooqi, who had taken a reserved seat after the murder of MPA Shahnaz Ansari. "I again request you to please adjourn the session after a resolution is adopted."

Endorsing the CM, opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi said that they too wanted to adjourn the session to fulfill the house's tradition.

Meanwhile, Grand Democratic Alliance MPA Hasnain Mirza, also lauding Baloch's services for his party, called him a dedicated and committed worker.

Terming himself a friend of the late minister, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Sheikh said that their friendship had endured despite political differences,

Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Rashid Khilji also supported the CM's call to defer the agenda and adjourn the session.

Earlier, as the session began, various lawmakers requested Durrani for the recitation of Fateha for those who had lost their lives in the pandemic and the recent plane crash in Karachi.

Following the standard operating procedures, all MPAs had donned face masks and gloves, while the assembly secretariat only permitted a limited number of MPAs, media personnel, staff and security on the premises.