Sindh Assembly rejects provincial ‘division’ amid MQM-P boycott

• CM defends Sindh’s historic constitutional identity.
• MQM-P accuses PPP of masking governance failures.
• Opposition urges decentralisation, local autonomy.
  

Amid a boycott by the MQM-P, the Sindh Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution, firmly rejecting any proposal, plan, or constitutional arrangement aimed at “dividing” the province, altering its territorial boundaries, or creating new administrative units.

The resolution was moved by PPP lawmaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro after days of debate on an adjournment motion moved by the treasury lawmaker.

As many as 137 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle took part in the discussion triggered after the PPP legislator moved the adjournment motion against “any move to divide Sindh”.

The resolution cited Article 239(4) of the Constitution, maintaining that no constitutional amendment altering the limits of a province can be presented to the President without being passed by a two-thirds majority of that province’s assembly.

The resolution added that the Sindh Assembly does not and shall not consent to any such territorial alterations.

Reflecting on Sindh’s civilisational identity and its historic role as the first provincial legislature to pass a resolution in support of Pakistan in 1943, the assembly declared in “unambiguous” terms that Sindh is one and shall remain one.

The House — in which PPP enjoys a two-thirds majority —also rejected any scheme to detach any district, division, or region from the province, or to place any part of Sindh under federal or separate administrative control, stating that all existing regions form an “integral and inseparable” part of the province.

“The resolution calls upon the Federal Government, Parliament, and all political parties to respect the democratic will of the people of Sindh and refrain from entertaining any proposals that threaten provincial integrity,” the resolution read.

The assembly asked the provincial government to transmit an official copy of the resolution to the president, prime Minister, Senate chairman, and National Assembly speaker to formally place Sindh’s constitutional position on the national record.

‘Constitutional rights’

Concluding the debate earlier, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Sindh had joined Pakistan as a single, united province and that its territorial integrity could not be altered against the will of its people or their elected representatives.

The chief minister said the debate was initiated by the PPP in response to recent statements by certain political leaders advocating new provinces or separate administrative units.

CM Murad also criticised what he described as contradictory positions adopted by MQM-P leadership and some political parties who publicly opposed the division of Sindh while simultaneously proposing separate assemblies, chief executives and governance structures for various divisions of the province.

The Chief Minister said Sindh had consistently defended its identity and constitutional rights throughout history, whether in opposing the separation of Karachi from Sindh in 1948 or resisting the One Unit scheme.

He maintained that the One Unit arrangement was wrong when it was imposed and remains wrong today, arguing that the assembly which endorsed it did not truly represent the people of Sindh.

‘Bad governance, emotional distraction’

Strongly criticising the ruling party, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Ali Khurshidi, called out the PPP for using sensitive topics to mask administrative failures, asserting that “politics is fine, but drama should not be staged.”

Speaking on the occasion before boycotting the session, MQM-P’s Khurshidi questioned the necessity of the resolution, noting that the House had already passed similar resolutions against the division of Sindh in the past.

He accused the ruling party of repeatedly bringing up the issue to exploit an “emotional factor” to cover up its “zero performance and unprecedented bad governance”.

“Everyone living in Sindh knows their performance is zero,” Khurshidi remarked, pointing out that Karachi is currently ranked as the third or fourth worst city in the world due to widespread administrative collapse.

He added that cabinet ministers themselves hold little authority within their own departments.

Addressing the debate over administrative structures, Khurshidi clarified that MQM-P stands for administrative empowerment and decentralisation, not division. He stressed that following the 18th Amendment, powers ought to have been devolved to the local level to give administrative units true autonomy.