Newly-elected Sindh Assembly members take oath in inaugural session

Newly-elected Sindh Assembly lawmakers on Saturday took oath in the inaugural session of the provincial legislature amidst the protest call of opposition parties.

The oath to at least 147 members, inclduing 111 from the PPP and 36 from MQM-P, out of 168 was administered by outgoing Speaker Agha Sirah Durrani.

The election for the House’s speaker and deputy speaker would be held under the assembly rules later today.

A day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) had announced staging a protest outside the Sindh Assembly building against alleged election rigging.

However, several politcal workers, who were protesting outside the Sindh Assembly, were arrested by the police.

Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, PPP’s CM nominee Murad Ali Shah said he had already told how many seats they would get. 

"We clinched victory on more seats than expected, he added.

Shah said Pakistan faced copious issues which would be resolved in collaboration with other parties.

 Earlier, the Sindh government imposed Section 144 in the red zone area of Karachi (District South) amid the protest call.

According to the notification issued by the home ministry, the restriction will remain in place for a period of one month.

"[...] the Government of Sindh, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 144 (6) Cr.PC, hereby imposes a ban on public assembly, gatherings, protests, processions, and demonstrations in South Zone Karachi Division for a period of 30 days with immediate effect," read the notification.