PTI stages walkout from Sindh PA

MPAs protest against opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh arrest

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers on Wednesday protested and walked out of the Sindh Assembly over the arrest of opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh by the anti-corruption establishment. Calling it political victimisation, the PTI MPAs chanted slogans against the Sindh government and said the PPP would be defeated in the province in the next election.

"We have sent the Punjab government packing. Now it's the turn of the thieves of Sindh who have looted and plundered the public resources," PTI's Khurrum Sher Zaman said. He claimed that opposition leader Sheikh has been arrested because he was exposing financial corruption of the provincial government.

Responding to the opposition members, the treasury MPAs also shouted slogans against PTI leader Imran Khan. "Haleem Adil is a land grabber who has occupied the lands of ghazal singer Muni Begum," Minister for Excise, Taxation and Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Kumar Chawla said.

To this, the PTI MPAs got up from their seats and protested. "Such false allegations are levelled against Sheikh as part of the government plan to target the opposition. By arresting him, the anti-corruption officials have breached the privilege of this house," Zaman said during the session marred by rowdyism.

Some PTI MPAs started filming the protest with their mobile phone cameras. The deputy speaker, Rehana Leghari, warned MPA Dr Seema Zia to stop using the phone. "We have asked you several times to not use your phone inside the house. Please stop. Otherwise, I will take action," she said, warning Zia.

The PTI MPAs walked up to the speaker's podium and protested before walking out from the session.

Earlier when the session started one and a half hours behind the scheduled time, the PTI MPAs distributed sweets in the house to "celebrate our victory in Punjab by removing Hamza Sharif from the post of chief minister".

While speaking to media persons outside the assembly, Khurram Sher Zaman said that Sindh was sinking after the recent rains, while its leadership was hatching conspiracies in Punjab. "Eik Zardari Sindh Pe Bhari Hai," he said, adding that the incompetence of the federal government can be gauged from the worst condition of the economy where the dollar has touched the new high against the rupee while the stock market has crashed.

However, the assembly unanimously passed The Sindh Social Protection Authority Bill, 2022 to establish an authority to provide what the government said was comprehensive and efficient social protection to the vulnerable people.

According to the law, it is aimed at assisting the poor and vulnerable individuals and households and to achieve economic security, human development and social empowerment.

"The state is obligated to promote social justice and economic wellbeing of and ensure social protection of vulnerable persons and families. The province of Sindh is committed to realise the principles of policy reflected in Articles 37 and 38 of the constitution," the bill said.

It added that the provincial government was committed to the establishment of an institutionalised framework to provide sustained and coordinated social protection interventions to assist the poor and vulnerable individuals and households and social empowerment.

A part from this, three government bills: The Sindh Prohibition of Preparation, Manufacturing, Storage, Sale and Use of Gutka and Manpuri (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Sindh Reproductive Healthcare Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The DOW University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2022 were also introduced.

The bills, moved by the parliamentary affairs minister, were referred to the standing committees for further deliberations.

Earlier, Mukesh Chawla, during the question and answer session, informed the house that the provincial government has not yet fixed the support price of wheat. He was asked about the wheat procurement target in the province.

The session was adjourned until today (Thursday).

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2022.