Khawaja Izhar made Sindh’s opposition leader

Karachi
The deputy parliamentary leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the Sindh Assembly, Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hasan, was appointed as the leader of opposition on Wednesday.
A notification in this regard was also issued from the Sindh Assembly Secretariat after the MQM lawmakers submitted an application in this regard.
The former leader of opposition, Shaharayar Khan Mahar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) forfeited the position when the MQM decided to sit in the opposition benches.
Mahar had been elected as the leader of opposition nine months ago with 21 votes of MPAs when the MQM was part of the coalition government in June.
However, now, with the second largest party in the opposition again, with 51 MPAs, Mahar had to abdicate his role as the leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly.
MQM which has majority vote of 51 MPAs is legally and constitutionally gets the slot of the opposition leader soon it decided to sit on the opposition benches.
Earlier in the day, MQM’s parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed submitted an application to the Sindh Assembly secretariat with signatures of 45 MPAs which was accepted and subsequently a notification was also issued in this regard.
The decision was taken at a joint session of the MQM’s coordination committee held simultaneously in Karachi and London, and was endorsed by party chief Altaf Hussain.
Hasan is the fourth MQM MPA to have become the leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly.
The first opposition leader from the party was Tariq Javed, who assumed the role in 1989 during the government of Benazir Bhutto and continued this slot till the dissolution of Assemblies.
Dr Farooq Sattar was the second in 1993, followed by Faisal Sabzwari in the last tenure of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government.
The MQM parted ways with the Pakistan Peoples Party in October last year and also submitted an application for the allotment of opposition seats however, the affairs had not been settled till now.
Meanwhile, the outgoing opposition leader Mahar expressed his concern over the quick issuance of notification by the Sindh Assembly Speaker. He said it had taken two months for him to be appointed as the leader of opposition but Hasan had been notified after 10 minutes he abdicated his position.
According to Sindh Assembly’s regulations, three days are required to pass between the time the slot become vacant and a new appointment.
The News in its report published on November 8, 2014 had already indicated that Khawja Izhar-ul-Hasan will emerge as the likely candidate for leader of opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly.
Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan, born in October 1971, is a member of MQM’s coordination committee and one of the party stalwarts who began his political career from the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation in 1988.
He graduated from the Preston Institute of Management Sciences and Technology (PIMSAT) and then went on to obtain an MBA degree from the Karachi University.
He has been an MPA in Sindh Assembly twice, once between 2008 and 2013 and then again from 2013 till now.
During the last tenure of Sindh government, Hasan also served as an adviser to the chief minister for three months in 2008 and was also one of the provincial ministers without a portfolio.