Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan administered oath of the office of Chief Minister of Sindh to Qaim Ali Shah at an impressive ceremony held on the lawns of Governor House on Tuesday.
The Muttaheda Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Muslim League (F), Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and National People's Party which had earlier extended unconditional support to Pakistan People's party in the formation of government, boycotted the ceremony to once again register their protest and anger against the indecent of behaviour toward female MPAs of MQM and the inhuman treatment of former chief minister Dr Arbab Rahim at the hands of PPP parliamentarians and workers in the premises of Sindh Assembly on Monday.
Sindh Chief Secretary Fazl-ur-Rehman conducted the ceremony. Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, and a large number of PPP MPAs, MNAs, Senators, party workers, civil and armed forces' representatives, members of the business community and elite of the city attended the ceremony.
After taking oath as the 23rd Chief Minister of Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah received congratulations. Talking to media, he said that law and order, unemployment, economic and income disparity, health and education were the areas of his immediate concern.
He said that law and order situation in the province was grave and it had made life of the common man miserable. He would take steps to improve it. "However, it is a difficult task, and would improve gradually." He said that job opportunities would be created and programmes would be drawn up to improve health, education, and civic amenities for all.
Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, talking to media persons, condemned the incident in which a PPP activist manhandled former chief minister Dr Arbab Rahim in the Assembly premises and expressed grief over the unfortunate occurrence. He said that the man who had beaten Rahim had been identified as Agha Javed. He was associated with Bhutto group, and hailed from Shikarpur.
Mirza denied that Javed had any link with Siraj Durrani. He said that women seen waving sandals and slippers in the Assembly corridors had also been identified as PPP workers from Lyari. He said that actions were being taken against the 'culprits'.
Later, in the special session of the Sindh Assembly, Qaim Ali Shah secured vote of confidence. He got 92 votes in favour and nil against. There were 90 votes from the PPP and two from the PML (Q) defectors Abid Husain Sundrani and Ghalib Husain Domki. The two parliamentarians after casting vote in favour of Qaim Ali Shah left the Assembly hall.
The session, which was schedule to begin at 5 pm, started after two hours' delay, at 7:15 pm. After recitation of verses from the Holy Quran and rendition of naat, prayers were offered for PPP workers and their relatives who had died recently.
To express confidence in Qaim, 27 MPAs moved motion in accordance with Article 130(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan. "I.... move this motion in this House to express full confidence in Syed Qaim Ali Shah as Chief Minister of Sindh in terms of Article 130(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan."
Speaker Nisar Khuhro clubbed all motions into one and put to vote. Ninety-two members voted in favour and nil against. The MQM, PML (F), PML (Q) and NPP continued boycotted of the session. Efforts were made to woo the protesting MPAs, but in vain. In his speech, parliamentary party leader Mazharul Huq condemned the incident that had taken place with Arbab Rahim and termed it unfortunate.
He said he was distressed to see MQM and others on boycott and expressed hope that they would come to the House soon. The new Chief Minister pledged to deal with the problems of unemployment, poverty, law and order and price increase on priority basis.
Manzoor Wasan demanded of the chief minister to examine all land allotment cases and review them to find out illegalities and unlawful decisions. The Assembly also approved a resolution moved by three members Salim Khursheed Khokhar, Makhdoom Jamil-uz-Zaman, and Tariq Mehmood to condemn publication of blasphemous cartoon in Denmark. The resolution said that the publication of blasphemous material had affected inter-religious harmony and widened differences between different faiths.
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