KARACHI: Recently elected member of the Sindh Assembly Moazzam Ali Abbasi could not take oath of office on Friday as the Assembly’s session was adjourned due to lack of quorum.
Abbasi defeated Pakistan People’s Party candidate Jameel Ahmed Soomro and emerged victorious in the PS11 Larkana by-election on Oct 17.
Opposition members opposed Speaker Suraj Durrani decision to adjourn the session citing low attendance.
“A member of the house cannot take oath if he has defeated the People’s Party,” Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Haleem Adil Shaikh said. “The PPP has adopted an undemocratic attitude,” the PTI legislator added.
Several opposition members staged a sit-in outside the Assembly’s premises to protest against the government’s attempt to prevent Abbasi from taking oath as member of the house on Friday.
Earlier, members of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and the PTI in Sindh, in a display of support, showered floral petals on Abbasi.
Moazzam Ali Abbasi defeated Jameel Ahmed Soomro, who served as political secretary of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in the by-election for the provincial constituency of PS-11 in Larkana – the Bhuttos’ political stronghold in the province.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari openly challenged election results by calling them rigged and vowed to hold nation-wide rallies in protest.