KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on Sunday for the election of the speaker and deputy speaker, with proceedings set to resume at 11 am. Outgoing speaker Agha Siraj Durrani validated the nomination papers for the positions during the inaugural session on Saturday, where newly elected representatives were sworn in as members of the provincial assembly.
For the speaker and deputy speaker positions, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has nominated Owais Shah and Anthony Naveed, respectively, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has put forward Advocate Sofia Shah and Advocate Rashid Khan. The election process will involve secret balloting.
In the maiden session, 148 newly elected representatives, including the chief minister-in-waiting Murad Ali Shah, took the oath as Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs).
Notably, around 60 MPAs were sworn in as lawmakers for the first time. Agha Siraj Durrani, who administered the oath, also took the oath as a lawmaker and expressed gratitude to his party for the opportunity.
However, approximately 13 opposition members opted not to participate in the ceremony, staging a protest against alleged election rigging. The protest led to road blockages, prompting police intervention and disruptions in traffic flow.
The hours-long protest concluded in the evening, with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) clearing Shahrah-e-Faisal, and normal traffic resumed.
