Opposition boycotts Sindh PA after ugly incidentsBy Rehan Siddiqui

KARACHI — Nisar Ahmed Khuhru and Shehla Raza took the oath of office of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Sindh Assembly yesterday under charged atmosphere and boycott by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), PML-F and NPP members to protest against the manhandling of former chief minister Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim and MQM’s women members by Pakistan People’s Party supporters.
Outgoing Speaker Syed Muzzaffar Hussain Shah administered the oath to Nisar Khuhro, who later administered the oath to Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, after the session was suspended by almost half an hour and resumed without the presence of opposition members.
PPP leaders tried to persuade the MQM and other opposition party members to return to the house but their efforts could not bear fruit.
The election of the chief minister was scheduled to be held in afternoon but with opposition parties specially the MQM boycotting the session it was expected to be delayed while hectic efforts were being made by the top leadership of the two parties to resolve the issue.
Earlier, Dr Rahim took the oath amid taunts and abuses hurled by the PPP members and supporters. The session itself started three hours late due to the absence of MQM members.
When Dr Rahim was leaving the house he was pushed and was even slapped with a shoe by PPP supporters who managed to enter into the assembly building despite presence of law enforcement personnel.
However, Dr Rahim, with the help of police and his personal bodyguards managed to get into his car. He later told newsmen that the shameful actions against him were planned by the PPP.
“It was a pre-planned drama. I was personally abused and even shoes were thrown at me. Such incidents in the past led to imposition of martial laws,” he said.
“Under the present hostile atmosphere it is going to be difficult for me to attend the assembly,” he said.
The treatment meted out to Dr Rahim was widely condemned and PPP leaders laid the blame on the local administration for the ugly scenes in the assembly, claiming it was their duty to ensure sanctity of the House.
MQM members later rushed to the party's headquarters Nine-Zero to decide the future line of action in view of the unpleasant incidents inside and outside the assembly building.
Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan has ordered an enquiry into the Sindh Assembly incidents involving manhandling of the former provincial chief minister.