In an unprecedented act, governor likely to address Sindh Assembly in coming days

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A special sitting of the Sindh Assembly is likely to take place in which the incumbent provincial governor, Imran Ismail, will address the house for the first time.The idea of addressing the provincial legislator has been floated by the governor himself. A spokesman for the Governor’s House said that intimation to this effect was sent by the governor to the speaker of the Sindh Assembly earlier this week, citing the related provisions of the constitution and rules of procedure of the assembly that allowed the governor to address the provincial lawmakers.The spokesman said the Sindh Assembly secretariat had responded positively to the proposal of the governor’s address and now a date had to be set for the address to take place.He added that Ismail, being the federal government’s representative in the province, wanted to address the MPAs to take them into confidence on issues related to the foreign policy of Pakistan with regard to recent Pakistan-India tensions and border skirmishes.The Sindh governor also commented on his idea to address the provincial legislature on Saturday when he conversed with media persons after attending a housing workshop at the NED University of Engineering and Technology.The governor said on the occasion that he wanted to take the lawmakers into confidence about the foreign policy and contours of related policies of the federal government in the context of recent Pakistan-India tensions.He said all the political parties lending support to the government during the difficult time was a positive sign as it would ensure that the country coped with any crisis.It may be mentioned here that a session of the Sindh Assembly has been in progress since January 9, 2019. The observers privy to the parliamentary affairs in the country said that no Sindh governor in the past had exercised their right to address the provincial assembly and the present Pakistan-India tensions could have provided the necessary cause to the governor to do such an unprecedented act.It should also be mentioned here that rules 62, 63 and 64 of the Chapter IX of the Rules of Procedures of Sindh Assembly 2013 deal with the issue of the governor’s address to the assembly. The governor has also recently met Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and discussed with him the prevailing strained Pakistan-India relations.Housing workshopAddressing the workshop at the NED University, Ismail said a major city like Karachi had witnessed numerous civic issues owing to the anomalous expansion of its population without any planning.The workshop was titled ‘Affordable Housing in Naya Pakistan’. The governor said people living in the localities that came into existence without any planning had to face numerous difficulties.He added that the current federal government had initiated the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme to construct five million houses in the country during the next five years. This scheme would benefit those sections of society who could only afford low-cost housing facility, Ismail maintained, adding that a task force had also been constituted to implement this scheme.The governor also appreciated the fact that the country’s construction industry was well represented at the workshop. The event was also addressed by NED University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr SH Lodi and chief of the PM’s Task Force on Housing Zaigham Rizvi.Later, talking to media persons, Ismail said the holding of the Pakistan Super League matches in Karachi proved that the city’s hustle and bustle had been fully revived.

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2HmIXWd
The News International - Karachi