Keamari district issue: Opposition creates ruckus in Sindh PA

KARACHI: The opposition in the Sindh Assembly on Friday vociferously protested against the Sindh cabinet’s decision to form another district in Karachi and staged a walkout from the House. The opposition legislators strongly protested and staged the walkout on the first day of the new session of the assembly as they were not granted permission by Deputy Speaker Rehana Laghari to discuss the move of the Sindh government to establish a seventh district in Karachi. Owing to vocal protests by opposition lawmakers, the assembly could not hold the question hour as part of the assembly’s agenda. The lone legislator of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in the legislature, Syed Abdul Rasheed, was the first one to walk out in protest after he was denied permission to speak on the issue.

After Rasheed, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Muhammad Hussain Khan was also not granted permission by the chair to speak on the formation of a new district in Karachi, following which legislators of the MQM-P resorted to vocal protest in the House. They also held posters carrying slogans against the Sindh government’s decision to form a new district in Karachi.

The MQM-P’s legislators surrounded the rostrum of the speaker during their protest. They raised slogans “Division of Karachi unacceptable” and “formation of politicised district unacceptable”. The protest by the opposition MPAs resulted in chaos and the deputy speaker was unable to conduct the question hour.

Later, the MPAs of MQM-P and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf walked out of the House. The legislators of the two remaining opposition parties, Grand Democratic Alliance and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, however, did not walk out and kept sitting in the assembly.

The protesting lawmakers came back after sometime after ending their boycott of the proceedings of the session.