At least 146 newly-elected Sindh Assembly members took oath in the house of 168 on Saturday (today) as the session began with a delay amid high security.
The session commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran after which Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani administered the oath to members as they chanted slogans in the assembly.
The legislators will now elect the House’s speaker and deputy speaker later under the assembly rules.
However, four members did not take oath for different reasons including two senators who got elected on provincial seats.
Meanwhile, notification for Ameer Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman was not issued after he announced he would be relinquishing his provincial assembly seat, PS-129, and a PPP leader Abdul Aziz Junejo, who was elected on PS-80, passed away.
Prior to the swearing-in ceremony, the police detained 10 workers including women of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek who staged protests outside the Sindh Assembly against the alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections. The law enforcement officials also baton-charged the protestors.
The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), PTI and Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-Haqiqi), had announced to hold a joint “peaceful” protest outside the Sindh Assembly.
GDA Secretary Information Sardar Abdul Raheem said that their protest in Sindh was against stealing the people’s mandate, warning that the demonstrations would keep intensifying till their mandate was returned.
He said that a peaceful protest was their right and the government should avoid using force against them.
Caravans of various political parties coming from different parts of Sindh were stopped on the outskirts of the metropolis.
