Former Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim unseated from Sindh Assembly

Rejecting leave application, the Sindh Assembly Thursday unseated former chief minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

The Sindh Assembly voted on a motion on the leave of Arbab Ghulam Rahim, declaring his seat (PS-60) vacant. In the next phase, the assembly secretariat will issue a notification and approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The latest development occurred when a majority of legislators from treasury and opposition benches had refused to grant him more leaves, the member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (Likeminded).

The former chief minister, in his rejected leave application, said that certain people attacked him physically when he took oath as MPA of Sindh Assembly. He, however, managed to save his life. He did not participate in the proceedings for the last four years.

Nisar Khuhro, the Sindh Assembly Speaker informed the house that the assembly secretariat had prepared a report on Rahim’s attendance record. He said he was assigned to inform the house about the attendance of the MPAs.

He told the house that that the PML-Q (LM) leader had been absent the assembly for 40 consecutive days.

Local Government Minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Agha Siraj Durrani moved the resolution against Rahim, who has been living abroad for the last four years.

Razzaque Rahimoon, the MPA of the PML-Q (LM) boycotted the session, saying this was not a good tradition. Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by Rahimoon and Arbab Zulfiqar, who sought court’s help in obtaining leave for Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

According to Section 56(1) of the legislature’s rules of procedure, any member can move that a seat be declared vacant after a member’s absence of a consecutive 40 days from the session.

The Sindh Advocate General read out several articles of the constitution and told the Sindh Assembly that the “provisions were very clear”. Rahim’s last leave application was rejected by Sindh Assembly MPAs.

While he has normally cited ill-health as a reason for not being able to travel from Dubai – where he lives – to attend the assembly, in his last application he said he could not travel because of security concerns.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 22 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.