Sindh Assembly on Thursday disqualified former chief minister Dr Arbab Rahim as an MPA for not attending 40 consecutive sittings of the provincial assembly amid protest by legislators of Pakistan Muslim League Like-minded (PML-L), who walked out of the house saying that the decision would set a "bad tradition".
The PPP legislators began thumbing their desks and shouted 'Jeay Bhutto' slogans, moments after Speaker Nisar Khuhro read out a motion against the former Sindh CM and put it to the lawmakers to decide. The house, which the PPP legislators overwhelmingly occupy, called loudly "aye" to unseat the former CM while lawmakers of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were present in the house. However, members of National Peoples Party (NPP), Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F) and Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) were not present during the voting.
Khuhro asked the legislators to calm down before announcing the verdict, which said, "I declare the seat vacant of President of PML-L Dr Arbab Rahim". Advocate General of Sindh Abdul Fateh Malik, who was also present in the house to elaborate legal aspects of the issue, started his speech by giving political remarks against Arbab Rahim, saying that nothing was stopping him from returning to Pakistan, but the cries of those who were killed in Karsaz blasts.
Malik quoted Rule 56 (1) of the Assembly Rules and Articles 64, 67 and 127 of the Constitution of Pakistan, saying the house could take action against Arbab Rahim for being absent from the house for 40 consecutive sittings. The motion was moved by Sindh Local Bodies Minister Aga Siraj Durrani, Sindh Minister for Food Mir Nadir Khan Magsi, Sindh Revenue Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar and PPP's minority legislator Saleem Khursheed Khokhar.
Provincial legislator of PML-L Abdul Razzaq Rahimoon immediately rose from his seat and said that setting such a tradition would have bad implications. He recalled that the PPP lawmakers had in their previous government disqualified PML-F's MPA Jam Madad Ali Khan and now they did the same with Dr Arbab Rahim. He and his party's lawmaker Arbab Zulfiqar left the house in protest saying, "we boycott".
PPP's lawmaker Muhammad Rafiq Advocate said that Razzaq had not right to speak against the rules, as none was above the law. But, the Speaker immediately made it clear that Razzaq had not said anything against the law. Criticising the former CM, Siraj Durrani said that it was not a bad tradition to unseat him for not attending the assembly sessions for the last four years.
He alleged that Arbab Rahim had a reputation of using abusive language against the government officials and his subordinates when he was the chief minister. Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that earlier Arbab Rahim had been giving health issues as a reason for not attending the PA session, however, in his recent applications he had mentioned security issues behind his inability to attend the PA sessions. He said the contradiction in Arbab Rahim's applications forced the house to unseat him.