Sparks fly as Sindh govt passes local body law amid Opposition walk out

Opposition members though insist that they will not boycott the local govt elections.

KARACHI: With the conflict over local government laws brewing between the government and the opposition, exploded on the assembly floor on Friday in a session requested by the opposition.

Opposition parties protested during the session and then staged a walkout before the government managed to pass the local government ordinances into law.

The house echoed with the slogans raised by opposition and treasury members opposing the law.

The opposition and treasury benches traded slogans over the local government ordinances. Members of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) thumped their desks in favor of the local government law asking opposition members to “go, go, bye, bye.”

Incensed, Opposition members mainly belonging to MQM tore up copies of the day’s agenda and exchanged heated arguments with ruling party members.

The chaos started soon after question answer session when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA Ifranuallah Marwat wanted to move a resolution to “disapprove” the two local government amendment ordinances. But speaker Agha Siraj Durrani insisted that a privilege motion and adjournment motion first.

“I have summoned this session on your requisition to debate on LG law, but we have to take up privilege motion, adjournment and other business first,” he said while referring to rules and procedures of the provincial assembly.

The Opposition members though protested this and insisted the house take up their resolution. They asked the speaker to defer other agenda. “We will not accept this black passed which aims at rigging the LG polls. This is serious matter, please take it up otherwise we will not let to run the proceedings.”

After these words the members of opposition parties started reading their resolution amid a noisy session.

With the speaker not giving them a chance to move their resolution, Opposition members failed walked out of the assembly. This allowed the ruling party, which has sufficient votes, to pass the two ordinances into law without resistance.

Later, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Dr Mandhro and other members repeatedly appealed to the opposition parties through the media to re-join the session so that debate could be initiated on the bill, but the Opposition parties did not comply.

Having walked out of the session, the Opposition proceeded outside the assembly building and started to protest.

Lawmakers belonging to the MQM, PTI, PML-F and PML-N gathered in front of the assembly building where they staged a mock assembly. MQM MPA Amir Moin Pirzado performed the speaker’s role. Members of the opposition parties moved the resolution to “disapprove” the local government ordinance and passed it.

Leader of the Opposition in the assembly Faisal Subzwari said that since the government did not give them a chance to move the resolution, they had setup their own assembly.  PML-N MPA Aijaz Shah Shirazi, Ifranullah Marwat and Samar Ali Khan of PTI spoke on the occasion.

Talking to media the Opposition members said though the provincial government had started pre-poll rigging, they will not boycott the LG polls scheduled for January 18, 2014.