KARACHI: Sindh Assembly member Firdous Shamim Naqvi tendered his resignation as the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly on Friday.

Speaking to journalists at the ‘media corner’ on the premises of the provincial assembly, he confirmed that he had dispatched his resignation to the prime minister, saying that he would no more hold the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly.

“I am an ordinary worker of the PTI and will continue to serve the party,” he said adding that the PTI was his first and last political party and he was not joining any other party.

He said he did not want to disclose the reasons behind his resignation at the moment. “The reasons will surface shortly,” he added.

Haleem Adil Sheikh tipped as new leader of opposition

Informed sources told Dawn that it was the second time when Mr Naqvi’s resignation was sought by the party leadership.

They said that earlier in September 2020, the PTI leadership had also sought his resignation as leader of the opposition.

However, the sources said, Mr Naqvi managed to somehow retain the position by convincing the party leadership.

They claimed that the performance of Mr Naqvi and his “controversial statements” had led the party to seek his resignation.

Meanwhile, they said that vice-president of PTI for Sindh Haleem Adil Sheikh, presently the party’s parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, was being tipped as the next leader of the opposition.

250 new buses for Karachi delayed, PA told

Provincial Minister for Transport Syed Awais Qadir Shah on Friday said that 250 new buses would be running on roads of Karachi by the end of 2021.

Furnishing statement and answers to written and verbal queries of lawmakers during Question Hour in Sindh Assembly, he said that the transport and mass transit department had already written to the chief minister, requesting him to release adequate funds for the buses’ procurement. “We have done all the paperwork and just need the funds to start tendering process,” he said.

Awais Shah said that the provincial government was going to perform groundbreaking of two “biggest” transport projects of Pakistan this year.

“The groundbreaking of Red Line Bus Rapid Transit System would be held in March while the works to be initiated for Yellow Line Bus Rapid Transit System later this year,” he added.

The transport minister said that in the first phase, 250 buses would be brought and run in Karachi while in more phases, the department would be doing “massive” works in other districts of the province.

He said that the project for bringing 250 buses in Karachi had to be completed by 2020, but it was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and other issues.

‘Not a single bus is run in Karachi’

Nusrat Sehar Abbasi of the Grand Democratic Alliance slated the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government for “not running even a single bus during its last 12-year tenure.

“The ministers were replaced quite frequently and every transport minister used to give new date for completion of project but to no avail,” she deplored.

Replying to Ms Abbasi’s remarks, the transport minister said that representatives of the ministries gave completion dates considering their progress but sometimes it suffered delays owing to realistic reasons. “The prime minister had announced Rs162 billion package for Karachi, but he didn’t give even Rs162,” he said.

Ministers criticise PM for his remarks

During the assembly proceedings, the provincial ministers criticised the prime minister over his recent remarks on protesters of the Hazara community in Quetta.

They asked the protesters and families of the victims not to wait for the prime minister and hold the funerals.

Mines and Mineral Development Minister Mir Shabbir Ali Bijarani said that the prime minister termed the protesters ‘blackmailers’.

He requested the victims’ families to hold funerals of their loved ones.

Women Development Minister Syeda Shehla Raza said that the prime minister would not visit the sit-in to condole with the Hazara community “as he doesn’t feel their pain”.

Education Minister Saeed Ghani said that every Pakistani got hurt by the prime minister’s remarks.

The provincial ministers also asked protesters of 35 sit-ins being held in different parts of the city in solidarity with the Hazara community to shrink their demonstration and gather at one central place “as the people are facing miseries for the last few days due to closure of roads and streets”.

They assured that the provincial government would provide security to the protesters.

‘Threat to Sindh Assembly’

During the proceedings, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani said that the provincial assembly was facing a major threat.

“The law enforcement agencies have arrested some people and pictures of the assembly’s entry and other points have been recovered from their possession,” the speaker said.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2021