PPP secures speaker, deputy speaker slots in Sindh Assembly

Members of the Sindh Assembly elected PPP’s Owais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed as speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, through a secret ballot on Sunday.

Shah received 111 out of the 147 votes cast on Sunday, while MQM-P’s Sofia Shah got 36. Similarly, Naveed secured 111 votes and MQM-P’s Advocate Rashid Khan received 36.

The development occurred just one day after a significant number of elected representatives from the PPP and MQM-P were inducted as members of the 16th provincial assembly. The former Speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Agha Siraj Durrani, officiated the swearing-in of 111 members from the PPP and 36 from the MQM-P on Saturday. Notably missing from the ceremony were nine PTI-affiliated independents, three GDA members, and two from Jamaat-i-Islami, all in protest against the election results.

Today’s meeting, which was slated to start at 11 am, began 18 minutes late under the leadership of the outgoing speaker Durrani. Following the Holy Quran recitation, the nine PTI-aligned lawmakers, who had not been sworn in on Saturday, took their oaths.

Muhammad Farooq, a leader from Jamaat-i-Islami, was also sworn in with the PTI-aligned independents. In contrast, JI Karachi’s chief Haafiz Naeemur Rehman was absent from today’s session.

As the voting for Speaker began, PTI-aligned MPs called out against alleged voting fraud and declined to vote. PTI-backed Bilal Khan Jatoi denounced the election as deceitful.

The term ‘lota lota’ was chanted by the legislators when Ijaz Swati was summoned to vote. It’s essential to recognize that Swati, who won his seat as an independent supported by PTI, later defected to the PPP.

Amidst cheers of ‘long live Bhutto’ in the assembly hall, the newly elected Speaker took his oath in Sindhi after being declared the winner.

In his speech, Shah vowed to perform his role impartially, assuring every member of the House ample opportunity to voice their opinions.