KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday carried out business on the agenda in the absence of two major opposition parties — Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan — as all three main gates of the assembly were closed a little before the sitting.

While some of the PTI members, including Firdous Shamim Naqvi, had entered the assembly premises before the gates were closed, a few others scaled Gate No. 1 to enter the building, though they did not come to the house boycotting the proceedings.

The MQM-P members also left the house to join PTI’s boycott and protest, but the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), which is an ally of the PTI at the centre, and members of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) stayed back and criticised the PTI for their “unparliamentary mode of protest” by bringing a folding charpoy in the house on Monday as a symbolic “coffin of democracy”.

Naqvi announces resignation under protest

At the outset of the proceedings, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani condemned Monday’s incident and told the house that he had barred eight PTI lawmakers from entering the Sindh Assembly premises during the current session for their “disorderly conduct damaging the sanctity of the house” during yesterday’s session.

GDA, TLP slam PTI for bringing a charpoy in house; bill on forced conversion to be passed after consulting CII

The suspended PTI members are parliamentary party leader Bilal Ahmed, Rabistan Khan, Abdul Aziz, Arsalan Taj, Saeed Ahmed, Adeel Ahmed, Raja Azhar and Shahnawaz Jadoon.

Mr Naqvi of the PTI came to the house to inform the speaker that the security staff was not allowing the PTI members other than those barred by the chair.

The speaker asked the officials concerned to let the PTI MPAs in one by one. However, Mr Naqvi left the house saying he was resigning from the assembly seat in protest, when the speaker did not allow him to speak further and switched off his microphone.

Rejecting the speaker’s decision of suspending the members from the current session, the PTI leaders staged a sit-in outside the assembly gate as the security staff had closed all three gates of the building, apparently anticipating the PTI protest.

The speaker said that it was deplorable that the elected members were behaving like that. “I have been serving as the speaker for the last eight years but I never punished any member before,” he said.

He also thanked the GDA for not becoming part of the PTI’s protest in the house on Monday.

The speaker criticised the PTI for bringing a folding charpoy inside the house a day before. “They [PTI] abused and beat up the assembly staff with kicks and blows,” he said, adding that he would ensure implementation of all rules and procedures of the assembly as he was the custodian of the house.

“You [PTI members] have to behave like a parliamentarian if you want to sit in the house. MQM-Pakistan also held a protest during the budget session but did not behave like that,” he added.

A divided opposition

The combined opposition in the Sindh Assembly was divided on ‘unparliamentary’ practices of the PTI as its two allies in the federal government, the GDA and MQM-P, were also of the opinion that the incident should not have taken place.

The MQM-P and GDA had distanced themselves from the PTI’s protest on Monday.

Condemning the incident, Nand Kumar of the GDA said that his party would not support any unparliamentary practice. “Those who brought the charpoy in the house are immature. They will not be elected and come to the assembly for another time,” he said.

Mangla Sharma of the MQM-P said that the incident should not have taken place.

TLP’s Mohammad Qasim Fakhri also condemned the PTI for bringing a charpoy in the house. He said that the real incident had taken place in 2018 when the PTI came into power at the centre.

The PTI members present boycotted the proceedings, holding a protest on the assembly premises.

Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah assured the house that no bill pertaining to forced conversion of religion would be passed by the assembly without the recommendation of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2021