Divided opinion: Sindh Assembly approves LG ordinance amid hoopla
Deep-rooted political tension over a bitterly divisive issue manifested itself in the Sindh Assembly session on Monday.
The much-debated Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance 2012 was passed by Law Minister Ayaz Soomro amid a wave of noisy protests, with those opposing the law terming it a “black spot on democracy” and “a slap on the face of the people of Sindh.”
The system, which aims to empower local governing bodies, had been the cause of months-long deadlock between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its major ally the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which was eager to see it implemented.
The move, however, infuriated some of the government’s former allies like PML-F, PML-Q and ANP, who shouted slogans calling PPP MPAs ‘Ghadars’ or traitors.
Interestingly, some PPP members also recorded their disapproval by not standing up in favour of the law, whereas some decided not to show up at all.
The session kicked off at around 11:45 am after a two-hour delay as Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro tried his best to calm down the unruly MPAs.
PML-F leader Jam Madad Ali and other opposition members, who wore black armbands, stood up and asked Khuhro if their request to be seated in the opposition benches had been accepted.
“I have received your application, but some of your members are still ministers as their resignations have not been accepted. I cannot allot seats unless the ministries de-notify them,” Khuhro replied.
This greatly irked Madad who maintained they had submitted their resignations to the chief minister and governor ten days earlier.
Khuhro remained unmoved and told them they had made some procedural errors in the applications and would have to wait.
Later, Nusrat Seher Abbasi led a team of 13 MPAs who staged a sit-in in front of the speaker’s chair.
This invoked a variety of verbal jabs from senior ministers Pir Mazharul Haq, Murad Ali Shah, Ayaz Soomro and Sharjeel Memon. Memon termed it “cheap publicity” while Haq lashed out at PML-F’s Marvi Rashdi saying “respectable people do not behave like you. It seems like you do not come from a highly regarded family.”
Rashdi shot back by saying “you are not a Pir, but a Panhwar.”
The heat was turned up a notch when Soomro started reading out clauses of the ordinance. PPP and MQM members thumped their desks in approval while opposition members shouted slogans to drown out the minister’s voice.
Nusrat Abbasi pleaded the speaker not to pass the ordinance which she said “would divide Sindh.” Marvi Rashdi said those who favoured the system would be considered “traitors”. Some members also tore copies of the ordinance.
When the speaker tried to restrain protesters from speaking out, PML-Q MPA Shaharyar Mahar said: “You are imposing a system on us and forcing us to shut our mouths. This will never happen.”
Some PPP MPAs such as Ghalib Domki and Mehboob Bijarani walked out of the session before it was even passed, while Sassui Palijo and Sardar Ahmed Ali Pitafi were among those who were absent despite being told by the party leadership to ensure their presence.
Sources said a meeting was also held on Sunday night at the chief minister house to appease disgruntled PPP members.
“I will not accept the system. It has been rejected by the majority of the people from my constituency. Some MPAs are worried the party will not give them tickets for the upcoming elections, but [I] do not care and will continue to raise my voice,” Sardar Ahmed Ali Pitafi told The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2012.
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why no report on Sindh Strike.