Provincial Assembly of Sindh


The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, its provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan having a total of 168 seats, with 130 general seats, 29 seats reserved for women and 9 seats reserved for non-Muslims.
There was previously a Sind Legislative Assembly in the
Sind Province of British India and in the early years of the state of Pakistan.

History

A large part of Sindh was captured by the British commander General Sir Charles Napier status as a State and became a Commissionerate of India's Bombay Presidency, being controlled by a Commissioner.
In 1890, after the Minto reforms, Sindh gained representation for the first time in the Bombay Legislative Assembly, with four members representing it. From that time, a movement to separate Sindh from the Bombay Presidency was established, and in 1935, after a long struggle, a new chapter in the history of Sindh opened. Under Section 40 of Government of India Act 1935, Sindh was separated from the Bombay presidency with effect from 1 April 1936. With the introduction by the same Act of Provincial Autonomy, the newly created Province of Sindh secured a Legislative Assembly of its own, consisting of sixty members, who were elected on the basis of communal representation and weight age to the minority community.
Sir Lancelot Graham was appointed as the first Governor of Sindh by the British Government on 1 April 1936. Until 1937, he was also the head of an Executive Council of 25 members, which administered the affairs of Sindh and included two advisers from the Council of Bombay.

Assembly building

The two-story building of the Sindh Assembly consists of the camp office of the Chief Minister of Sindh, offices of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, ministers, Leader of the Opposition, Secretariat, Law Department of the Government of Sindh, and Library.
The foundation stone of the building was laid by Sir Lancelot Graham, the Governor of Sindh, on 11 March 1940. The construction of the building – declared open by Sir Hugh Dow, the Governor of Sindh, on 4 March 1942 – was completed within a span of two years.
In 1971, after a lapse of about 24 years, it was again declared as the Sindh Assembly building. Since then it has been used as such. Presently, the central portion of the building, the Assembly Hall, seats a capacity of 168 Legislators.

List of Assemblies

Chief Ministers of Sindh

The Leader of the House for the assembly is known as the Chief Minister of Sindh, the current Chief Minister of Sindh is Murad Ali Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party.

Speakers of the Sindh Assembly

Qualification of members

According to Article 113 of the Constitution, the qualifications for membership in the National Assembly set forth in Article 62 of the Constitution also apply for membership to the Provincial Assembly. Thus, a member of the Provincial Assembly:
  1. must be a citizen of Sindh;
  2. must be at least twenty-five years of age and must be enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll in–
  3. # any part of Sindh, for election to a general seat or a seat reserved for non-Muslims; and
  4. # any area in Sindh from which the member seeks membership for election to a seat reserved for women.
  5. must be of good character and not commonly known as one who violates Islamic injunctions;
  6. must have adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins;
  7. must be sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, and honest;
  8. must have never been convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude or for giving false evidence;
  9. must have never, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.
The disqualifications specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 do not apply to a person who is a non-Muslim, but such a person must have a good moral reputation and possess other qualifications prescribed by an act of Parliament.

Main article: Constitution of Pakistan

Article 106 of the Constitution provides that each Provincial Assembly shall consist of general seats and seats reserved only for women and non-Muslims. The same article specifies that the Provincial Assembly of Sindh will have a total of 168 seats: 130 general seats, 29 reserved for women, and nine reserved for non-Muslims.

Disqualification of members

The criteria for disqualification of members of a Provincial Assembly is established by Articles 63, 63A, 113 and 127. A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Provincial Assembly if the member:
  1. is of unsound mind and has been so declared by a competent court; or
  2. is an undischarged insolvent; or
  3. ceases to be a citizen of Sindh, Pakistan or acquires the citizenship of a foreign State; or
  4. holds an office of profit in the service of Pakistan other than an office declared by law not to disqualify its holder; or
  5. is in the service of any statutory body of any body which is owned or controlled by the Government or in which the Government has a controlling share or interest; or
  6. is propagating any opinion, or acting in any manner, prejudicial to the Ideology of Pakistan, or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan, or morality, or the maintenance of public order, or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan, or which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan; or
  7. has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction on a charge of corrupt practice, moral turpitude or misuse of power or authority under any law for the time being in force; or
  8. he has been dismissed from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or controlled by the Provincial Government or a Local Government on the grounds of misconduct or moral turpitude; or
  9. has been removed or compulsorily retired from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or controlled by the Provincial Government or a Local Government on the grounds of misconduct or moral turpitude; or
  10. has been in the service of Pakistan or of any statutory body or any body which is owned or controlled by the Government or in which the Government has a controlling share or interest, unless a period of two years has elapsed since he ceased to be in such service; or
  11. is found guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice under any law for the time being in force, unless a period of five years has elapsed from the date on which that order takes effect; or
  12. has been convicted under section 7 of the Political Parties Act, 1962, unless a period of five years has elapsed from the date of such conviction; or
  13. whether by himself or by any person or body of persons in trust for him or for his benefit or on his account or as a member of a Hindu undivided family, has any share or interest in a contract, not being a contract between a cooperative society and Government, for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any contract or for the performance of any service undertaken by, Government.
Article 63A, which deals with disqualification on grounds of defection, was added to the Constitution in 1997. A member of a Parliamentary Party composed of a single political party defects if the member:
  1. resigns from membership of the political party or joins another Parliamentary Party; or
  2. votes or abstains from voting in the Provincial Assembly contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which the member belongs, in relations to
  3. # election of the Chief Minister; or
  4. # a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or
  5. # a Money Bill.

    Privileges of members

Article 66 read with Article 127 confers freedom of speech on the members of the Provincial Assembly. No member is liable to any proceedings in any court of law in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Assembly. Similarly, no member is liable in respect of any publication which is published under the authority of Provincial Assembly.
However, Article 114 of the Constitution curtails this privilege and prohibits members from discussing the conduct of judges of High Court and Supreme Court in the discharge of their duties.

First day proceedings in the Provincial Assembly

Oath of Members. – After general elections, elected members in the first meeting take oath in the form set out in Third Schedule of the Constitution. Article 65 read with Article 127 states "A person elected to a House shall not sit or vote until he has made before the House oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule". Those members who have not taken oath in the first meeting take oath when they attend a meeting for the first time. The first meeting is presided by the outgoing Speaker. Article 53 read with Article 127 says "the Speaker shall continue in his office till the person elected to fill the office by next Assembly enters upon his office."
Election and oath of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. – In addition to oath taking by the members, Provincial Assembly according to Article 108 to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. When office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, in any way, the Assembly elects another member as Speaker or Deputy Speaker.
The elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker according to clause 2 of Article 53 read with Article 127 take oath before the House in the form set out in the Third Schedule.

Summoning and prorogation of Provincial Assemblies

Article 109 authorizes the Governor of the Province to summon Provincial Assembly to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit. Where the Governor summons Assembly he is authorized to prorogue it too. In addition, the Speaker, on a requisition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the Provincial Assembly, can summon it, at such time and place as he thinks fit, within fourteen days of the receipt of the requisition. Article 54 read with Article 127 also empowers the Speaker to prorogue the session where he summons it.