The BackBencher: Hell hath no fury like an MPA scorned

KARACHI:

From a house of less than three dozen idling MPAs to one that swelled to over 100 representatives in three hours, the Sindh Assembly’s Monday session was far from the non-event it initially threatened to be.

Until the benches filled up, the observers in the press gallery passed their time yawning, exchanging notes on why, exactly, the session had not started and downing cups of tea. Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, one heard, was trying to negotiate with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the National Peoples Party (NPP) over a contentious resolution arguing against the deletion of Article 239(4) from the constitution, which goes to the heart of the creation of the provinces debate.

As the negotiations continued, the handful of MPAs waiting in the house gossiped at decibel levels not reserved for tête-à-têtes. Some of them preened for photographers trying to get shots that didn’t just include gleaming or dupatta-clad pates from the limited angles afforded by the height of the press gallery. Some MPAs such as Nusrat Seher Abbasi and Razzaque Rahimoon loudly inquired why the session hadn’t started yet. This indignation was a tad ironic coming from MPAs who had just walked in themselves. On a side note, Sharjeel Inam Memon seems to have regained his footing among some MPAs, and appeared to be leading them on to thump their desks.

But taxpayer money or electricity be damned, the negotiations weren’t done, so there was no action on the floor. All eyes turned to Information Minister Shazia Marri as she made an appearance with the hope that it signalled that the business of the day would begin. “I’m alone,” she said aloud, as a disclaimer. “No one’s coming after me.”

The action then emerged in the visitors’ gallery, where Sindh United Party leader and GM Syed’s grandson Jalal Mehmood Shah had arrived to watch the debate on the resolution the NPP had attempted to present at the last session on Friday.

When the elected representatives finally began to file in at 1 pm, the MQM contingent was missing, a sure-fire sign that the talks had failed. They entered 30 minutes later as did the CM.

What would happen next: NPP MPA Masroor Jatoi’s resolution or the scheduled adjournment motion by MPA Imran Zafar Leghari? The reporters pressed forward to look – one excited note-taker even dropped his papers on to the assembly floor. Jatoi stood up to speak but Speaker Nisar Khuhro was too quick for him – he had already hurriedly called for the adjournment motion and given Leghari the chance to speak. Jatoi and Leghari glared at each other, as the former gestured at him to drop his adjournment motion so Jatoi could finally present the resolution. Leghari hemmed and hawed, and then spoke, but lo and behold, CM Qaim Ali Shah objected to the admissibility of the motion.

Shah quoted from the rules of procedure – which MPA Shaharyar Khan Mahar later called “a joker reciting jokes from a book” – and Jatoi kept trying to get a word in. Rebukes from Khuhro followed as he insisted he was trying to stick to the agenda. Abbasi had attempted to mention the resolution while asking questions, but Khuhro wasn’t having any of it. No one paid any attention to Shah talking, as MQM MPA Faisal Subzwari crossed the floor to speak to Law Minister Ayaz Soomro and other MPAs huddled together.

But NPP’s Masroor Ahmed and Arif Mustafa Jatoi had had enough. Arif Mustafa Jatoi kept leaving copies of the adjournment motion at the secretary’s desk, holding the papers up as he walked by the MQM legislators. They stalked out, followed by a few MPAs, but it was hard to tell whether they left because of solidarity or curiosity.

Law Minister Ayaz Soomro then spoke, in a move designed to be more loyal than the king. He insisted that the PPP was a “nationalist party” that would never allow for the break-up of Sindh.  MQM parliamentary leader Sardar Ahmed echoed his sentiment and the MPAs scuttled out. While they all thumped their desks in support of Soomro’s speech, one wonders if this resolution will not cause a split on nationalistic lines in the house. The original resolution bears signatures from several PPP MPAs, including Culture Minister Sassui Palijo. While the PPP will obviously attempt to appease its ally, the MQM, can it hold back any grumbling in its own ranks?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2012.