LARACHI: The newly-elected members of the Sindh Assembly were sworn in today following Governor Kamran Khan Tessori’s call for the inaugural session of the 16th provincial legislature.
Presiding over the first session of the new assembly was outgoing Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani, who administered the oath to the elected MPAs.
Despite a slight delay and heightened security measures, 163 of the 168 newly-elected Sindh Assembly members took their oaths on Saturday.
Ahead of the swearing-in, police detained 10 workers, including female members, of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek, who were protesting alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections outside the Sindh Assembly. Law enforcement also resorted to baton-charging the protestors.
Following the oath-taking ceremony, the schedule for the election of the speaker and deputy speaker will be announced.
Representing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), MPA Syed Waseem stated that his party nominated Sofia Saeed for the speaker’s position and Rashid Khan for deputy speaker. He emphasized MQM-P’s commitment to resolving the province’s issues through collaboration with other parties.
Meanwhile, Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed have been named as the PPP’s candidates for the positions of Sindh Assembly speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.
PPP’s nominee for Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah, expressed satisfaction with their election results, stating that they had secured more seats than anticipated. He underscored the need for collaborative efforts among parties to address the myriad challenges facing Pakistan.
