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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Opposition MPAs boycott polls for PA committees

By Our Correspondent
March 19, 2019

Lawmakers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the ruling party in Sindh, on Monday submitted nomination papers for 22 committees of the Sindh Assembly, including 20 standing committees of the house. The polls for the committees are scheduled for Wednesday (tomorrow)

Meanwhile, the lawmakers of the three main opposition parties in the provincial assembly – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) – decided to stay away from the elections for the PA’s standing committees as none of their MPAs submitted their nomination papers.

The three parties have been demanding that the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly be given to the leader of the opposition in the house, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, who belongs to the PTI.

A total of 34 PA standing committees have to be formed. This means that no nomination papers have been filed for 14 standing committees. The provincial government had offered the chairmanship of these 14 committees to the opposition.

Secretary of the Sindh Assembly GM Umar Farooq told The News that lawmakers of the ruling PPP had submitted nomination papers for 22 committees of the PA, which included the PAC, the finance committee and 20 standing committees.

Apart from the PPP MPAs, lawmakers of two opposition parties, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the total strength of which in the legislature is four, also submitted nomination forms for the PA committees’ polls.

Farooq said staff of the Sindh Assembly secretariat was scrutinising the nomination forms and in case there were more than 11 legislators contesting for any standing committee, the polls for it would be held on Wednesday as per the schedule notified earlier.

The PA secretary added that in case the number of contesting candidates for each of the standing committee did not exceed 11, the polls would not held as the contesting lawmakers would become members of their respective committees unopposed.

Other 14 committees

Talking to newsmen earlier in the day, Sindh Information and Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab said if the lawmakers of the three major opposition parties did not file their nomination papers for the remaining 14 standing committees, the provincial government would request the speaker to postpone the elections for them to give the opposition parties another chance to revisit their stance and participate in the process.

The elections for the standing committees would be held as per the schedule and according to rules and procedures of the PA, Wahab said. He added that the process of filing nomination papers was under way and the government was still trying to persuade the three opposition parties to resolve the issue amicably.

The information adviser reiterated that the treasury benches were committed to offer the chairmanship of 14 standing committees to the opposition. He maintained that the government was also ready to offer the PAC chairmanship to the opposition provided that they sign the Charter of Democracy (CoD).

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had offered the PAC chairmanship to the opposition on the floor of the house on condition that they signed the CoD.

The treasury benches had tried their best to engage with the opposition parties for creating a better environment in the PA, Wahab said, adding that the provincial government would go by the rules if the opposition continued to create hurdles in the normal functioning of the house.