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PPP’s female MPAs walk out as House takes up Haleem Adil’s privilege motion

By Our Correspondent
July 06, 2021
PPP’s female MPAs walk out as House takes up Haleem Adil’s privilege motion

Female legislators of the treasury benches in the Sindh Assembly staged a walkout in protest on Monday as the House took up a privilege motion of the leader of the opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Haleem Adil Sheikh, against the closure of gates of the assembly building last week, which barred the opposition legislators from attending the session.

The opposition leader dramatically appeared in the House to present his privilege motion for consideration, as otherwise the PTI legislators have been boycotting the assembly session to show solidarity with the eight MPAs of their party whose entry has been banned in the assembly hall following a recent ruckus in the House.

The female lawmakers belonging to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) objected to Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s decision of granting permission to the opposition leader to present his privilege motion.

The female legislators of the treasury benches said they would not let Sheikh speak in the House as he had humiliated them. They stood from their seats to protest vociferously and later walked out of the House after their microphone was switched off and the speaker permitted the opposition leader to present his privilege motion.

Speaking on the motion, the opposition leader alleged that the Sindh inspector general of police was responsible for breaching the privilege of the opposition legislators as uniformed policemen and law-enforcement personnel in plainclothes had misbehaved with them outside the assembly building last week.

He said the police did not have the authority to prevent the opposition legislators from attending the session of the assembly. He claimed that the opposition MPAs had been subjected to such maltreatment because they had been exposing the corrupt practices of the Sindh government.

Sheikh requested the speaker to summon the Sindh police chief in the House to seek explanation about the abusive conduct of the police against the opposition members of the legislature outside the Sindh Assembly.

Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla opposed the privilege motion on the grounds that the motion did not specify the authority or institution against which it had been moved.

The speaker rejected the privilege motion stating that it violated the rules of the assembly procedures. The Speaker also lamented that earlier last week, the cameras inside the House had filmed the unruly conduct of opposition legislators when they brought with them a charpoy during the session (in order to demonstrate a mock funeral of democracy).

Multi-storey houses

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government Department Saleem Baloch said that residential units in Karachi could not be built beyond ground-plus-two floors.

Responding to a call-attention notice of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Rabia Khatoon, the parliamentary secretary advised the House that the Sindh government should be intimated about the construction of residential units in Karachi in violation of the building by-laws.

He assured the assembly that the Sindh government would take stern action against such instances of illegal constructions in the city. The opposition legislator of the MQM-P in her call-attention notice had highlighted the issue of unauthorised constructions of multi-storey residential units in the city on plots as small as 80 and 120 square yards.

Condemning military coup

On the anniversary of military coup that overthrew the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on July 5, 1977, the House unanimously passed a resolution against the unconstitutional act.

The resolution was moved by PPP MPA Nida Khuhro. The resolution maintained that the day of July 5 would always be remembered as a black day in the country’s history. It read that the democratic dispensation in the country was still in danger as vicious attempts were being made to disgrace the supreme institution of Parliament.

Performing arts institute

The Sindh Assembly also passed the Sindh Institute of Music and Performing Arts Bill 2020. Sindh Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said the province needed a proper institution to teach various disciplines of performing arts. He said a building was available to the Sindh government in Jamshoro to house the proposed institute. He added that the country needed such institutions to combat the menace of extremism. Later, the speaker prorogued the session.