KARACHI: Opposition parties Wednesday protested against excessive and unnecessary delays in the Sindh Assembly proceedings and cried foul for being denied a chance to speak out the public issues in the house.

The house descended immediately once the prayers inaugurated. The opposition leader in the house, Haleem Adil Sheikh sought permission from Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari wanted to express his viewpoint but was denied straightaway.

The denial further led to the already smoldering protest by the opposition on unnecessary delays compulsively going on a daily basis in the start of the Sindh Assembly proceedings.

Opposition lawmakers gathered before the Deputy Speaker’s rostrum to protest the delay in start of the session, tore copies of the assembly’s agenda and tossed up at Leghari chair.

Haleem Adil Sheikh brought along a megaphone in the house, which opposition used quite fine to expand their protest even their official desk microphones were ordered to be closed.

MMA’s Syed Abdul Rashid said that he reserves the right to raise public issues in the house. Lyari, which is his electoral constituency, fell into disorder with “gunmen” roaming streets and roads to tame the opponents, he said.

He alleged the PPP has a political office on sewerage gutter line, saying that they shot wounded the protestors some days back. “If I want, I can throng thus house with the people of Lyari and then let see how it proceeds,” he threatened.

Responding to the opposition protest, Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that “the opposition has adopted an unparliamentary attitude in the assembly.”

He called Prime Minister, Imran Khan a “puppet” premier of the country, alleging “thieves” are sitting in the federation. He said a federal minister without naming him gave a wrong statement that wheat was stolen in Sindh.

“Sindh procures 1.2 million tons of wheat annually then how it is possible that 1.6 million tons of wheat is stolen,” he told the legislature. He proposed an inquiry should be held to find that how 6.8 million tons of wheat was stolen.”

He said that a false briefing was given by the federal government that 1.6 million tons of wheat was missing in Sindh. His remarks stirred up opposition’s anger but Deputy Speaker disallowed them to reply to the Minister’s aggressive statement and ordered to turn their microphones off.

MQM’s Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan showed regrets over Deputy Speaker’s partiality, saying that “the Speaker chair should not be compromised”. He said that the house still holds 40 percent of electoral representation from urban Sindh.

“We want this house should function,” he told the assembly that “it is necessary that democracy should not be killed”. He requested to the Deputy Speaker not to turn off the microphone of the opposition leader.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021