Officials estimate that the session will continue for about ten days as the government wants to pass laws. As Speaker Nisar Khuhro is out of the country, Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza will be the chair.
At the moment, the agenda is anyone’s guess. The local government bill may be tabled, but that too is up in the air considering the draft has not yet been drawn up and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are not entirely on the same page.
The session may be seen as a formality as the assembly is required to convene for a total of 100 working days since it begins in April. The number of required days has been brought up from 70 since the 18th Amendment was passed. Sindh’s lawmakers have only met for 30 days over seven months - they have not been able to meet for the past three months due to the local government dispute between the coalition partners. The last session was held on July 13 when the commissionerate system bill was passed by the assembly.
Now that the two parties have announced that they agreed to bring about a new local government system in the province after Eidul Azha, the session has finally been called.
Sindh Assembly Secretary Hadi Bux Buriro said that the governor was acting on the chief minister’s advice when he called the session. “The law department send a summary to the CM, who later signed it and requested the governor to convene the session,” he told The Express Tribune. He felt that they can easily complete the number of days the assembly is required to be in session if it is held every month. The law minister however, felt that there were other things to worry about other than the local government system, considering rescue and relief in flood-hit areas is still going on.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2011.
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