Syed Owais Qadir Shah from the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) seized the position of speaker in the Sindh Assembly, while Anthony Naveed secured the role of deputy speaker with a resounding majority on Sunday.
Shah garnered 111 votes in his favour, surpassing the 36 votes obtained by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) candidate Sofia Saeed. The voting took place in the presence of 157 members of the provincial assembly.
Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, presiding over the election, administered the oath to Shah.
Subsequently, Shah, now the newly elected Speaker, presided over the election for the Deputy Speaker. Anthony Naveed, making history as the first Christian community member to assume the role of Deputy Speaker in the Sindh Assembly, also secured 111 votes. His opponent, MQM-P's Rashid Khan, received 36 votes in the election.
Addressing the house after his election, Shah thanked the party leaders for reposing trust in him. He also expressed gratitude to the people of Sindh and the people of his constituency for electing him to represent them in the assembly.
Earlier, nine Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmakers – originally Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independents – and one Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawmaker took oath as members. However, three elected members of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) did not attend the session.
With this, the total number of members, who had been sworn in as MPAs rises to 157. During the speaker and deputy speaker’s election, however, 147 members cast their votes. The nine SIC members and the one JI’s MPA did not participate in the polling process.
Syed Awais Qadir Shah was elected from PS-23, Sukkur constituency in the February 8 general elections. His deputy, Anthony Naveed, came on the reserved seats for minorities on the PPPP’s priority list. He belongs to Karachi, and had previously served as the chairman of a house standing committee.
Read Sindh Assembly members to take oath today
The Sindh Assembly comprises 168 lawmakers – 130 elected on general seats, 29 reserved seats for women, and nine reserved for non-Muslims. The PPPP commands an overwhelming majority of 114 followed by 36 of the MQM-P and 9 of the SIC.
Later, the speaker adjourned the session until Monday (today), when the election of the provincial chief minister would take place.
From the PPPP, Syed Murad Ali Shah filed the nomination papers. The MQM-P has finalised the name of Ali Khurshidi as its candidate for the chief minister's post.
Hailing from the Dadu district Murad Ali Shah, son of former chief minister Abdullah Shah, is seeking the third term as the chief minister. Previously he served as the chief minister from July 29, 2016, to May 28, 2018 and from August 18, 2018, till August 17, 2023.
His likely rival, Khurshidi, won the February 8 general election from Karachi's PS-119 constituency. Previously, he served as a member of the provincial legislature from 2018 to 2023. Given the results of the speaker’s election, Murad Shah is in pole position in Monday’s contest.
Meanwhile, nine independent lawmakers, backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and one from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) were sworn in on Sunday in a Sindh Assembly session officiated by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. Three newly elected members of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) were absent from the house on the second day.
Speaker Durrani administered the oath of office to the 10 MPAs, which included independents supported by PTI and JI member Muhammad Farooq. With the new swearing-ins, the total number of MPAs has risen to 157.
Three MPAs of GDA and three of the PPP are yet to take their oaths including Nisar Khuhro and Jam Mehtab Dhar, who are also members of the Senate.
Morover, the notification confirming the success of JI's Hafiz Naeemur Rahman, who secured a general seat in the Sindh Assembly, has not been issued. Similarly, the announcement of the successful candidates for two women and one minority reserved seats is still pending.
(WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES)
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