KARACHI, March 22: The new session of the Sindh Assembly has been summoned on Saturday (April 5) at 11am by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, a Governor’s House spokesman told Dawn on Saturday. The business of the house in the first session will be limited to administering oath to the newly elected members of the parliamentary assembly (MPAs).

The announcement came at a time when political parties – particularly the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which won the majority of seats in the provincial assembly – were growing increasingly critical of the caretaker Sindh administration for allegedly delaying the session.

Pir Mazharul Haq, the PPP’s designated leader of the parliamentary party in the Sindh Assembly, who had perhaps been the most vocal critic of the delay and repeatedly demanded the calling of the session, warily welcomed the step and said that the announcement had done away with the ‘anxiety’ that was beginning to grow amongst the people.

“At least it is a beginning. The governor called me today and informed me. However, we are going to be in Larkana till April 4 for the commemoration of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death anniversary. We had declared this and it had been well-publicized in the media, as the details were announced at a meeting of the party’s Sindh Council (on March 19). Still, it’s ok. It’s a positive step. It is being welcomed because it is a constitutional step,” the Pir told Dawn.

Faisal Sabzwari of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who is set to be the party’s deputy parliamentary leader, was asked whether the party would cooperate with the PPP in the Sindh Assembly considering the fact that it had decided to vote for the PPP’s nominee for prime minister in the National Assembly.

“As far as I know this decision is exclusively for the prime minister’s election. We will consider the situation in Sindh. We are staunch supporters of national consensus and reconciliation and are not interested in a collision. We will wait and see how things develop,” he said.

The MPA-elect added that after the oath-taking on April 5, the next session will probably be called on April 7, when the speaker and deputy speaker will be elected, while the election for leader of the house will take place at a later date.

The total number of seats in the Sindh Assembly is 168, second only after the Punjab Assembly, which seats 371 members. Apart from 130 general seats in the Sindh Assembly, 29 are reserved for women while nine for non-Muslims.

As per statistics obtained from the Election Commission of Pakistan, the results for 164 out of 168 seats have been declared. The PPP has the lion’s share of seats in the provincial assembly totalling 90, while the MQM has the second largest chunk (51), followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (10), PML-F (9), Awami National Party (2) and National People’s Party (2).