KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Friday approved the amendment bill to the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 amid ruckus and a walkout staged by the opposition parties in the house, DawnNews reported.
The amendment allows a panel of nine councillors to jointly contest election for a union committee/council.
Opposition members led by the Muttahida Qaumi Moverment (MQM) created ruckus tearing up copies of the daily agenda during the proceedings of the house over the bill, following which they staged a walk-out and then a sit-in outside the assembly building.
After the assembly session, senior provincial minister Nisar Khoro visited the chambers of the opposition leader, Syed Sardar Ahmed, and sought to amicably resolve the issue between the two benches of the house.
Members of the opposition parties said that after evolving consensus over the the next course of action to be taken, they would announce for a decisive public meting over the issue.
Earlier during the day, the Sindh High Court (SHC) adjourned the hearing of five different petitions against the new delimitation of constituencies for the local government elections in the province. The SHC asked the provincial law officer to forward his arguments on Monday.
A two-judge bench of SHC headed by Justice Mohammed Ali Mazhar, adjourned the hearing until December 23, after the counsel for other petitioners concluded their respective arguments.
The court has clubbed together all petitions against the new delimitation in parts of the province.
Earlier on Thursday, MQM counsel Farogh Nasim, who had moved court against delimitation in Karachi's two districts South and Malir, after giving his arguments requested the court to declare the delimitation of constituencies for local government elections illegal and restrain authorities from conducting local government elections in the Malir and South districts.
One of the petitions was filed by Syed Mureed Ali Shah against the appointments of commissioners as heads of election tribunals and deputy commissioners as delimitation officers.
During hearing on Friday, he argued that on Sept 26 the local government department issued another notification delegating powers of delimitation officers to deputy commissioners, asking them to accomplish the delimitation task.
He said that the delimitation process was to be carried out by the ECP alone and not by the delimitation officers.
He said that the provincial government through a notification had appointed delimitation officers which was unconstitutional, as it violated the constitutional mandate
Petitioner Muhammad Shareef Mirbahar challenged the delimitation exercise in Thatta district.
He assailed the delimitation exercise in upgraded Town Committee and submitted that the respondent intended to expand the boundaries of the town committee by including two more Dehs called Karalo and Ghato.
Former MNA Zafar Ali Shah also filed a petition against the appointments of commissioners as election tribunals and deputy commissioners as delimitation officers.
Petitioner Abdul Jabbar Khan in his petition challenged the delimitation process in parts of Shaheed Benazirabad.
Petitioners Muhammad Hanif Qureshi and Mumtaz Ali Abro assailed the delimitation notification relating to different wards in Karachi.