KARACHI: The date for the opening session of the new provincial assembly (PA) will remain flexible to facilitate members attending the death anniversary service of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, scheduled on April 4 at Garhi Khuda Bux, Larkana, according to sources in Governor House.

In a late-night development, the nominated parliamentary leader of the PPP in the Sindh Assembly, Pir Mazharul Haq, contacted Governor Ishratul Ebad on the phone. According to reports, both men agreed to have a meeting on Thursday (today) at Governor House.

PPP sources said that Haq could make a formal request to reschedule the date for the assembly session. According to sources, the parliamentary leader wanted March 29, as a new date.

Governor Ishratul Ebad has selected April 5 as the date for the opening session of the freshly elected PA, a day after Bhutto’s death anniversary programme. Some PPP Sindh workers were expecting a change in the date after the NWFP governor rescheduled the date for its first assembly session from April 2 to March 28.

Sources in the PPP said that the NWFP governor rescheduled the date because PPP members in the PA will have difficulty attending the commemoration of Bhutto’s death anniversary given the long distance. However, according to the PPP’s nominated Sindh Assembly Speaker, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the PPP legislators in Sindh will not feel any inconvenience if the Sindh Assembly session is held on April 5.

Talking to Daily Times, Khuhro said that the death anniversary programme of the party’s founder is usually held the night between April 3 and 4 every year, and the participants can easily return to Karachi by the evening of April 4 to attend the assembly’s session scheduled on April 5.

According to PA Secretary Hadi Bux Buriro, the assembly secretariat has already completed arrangements for the first assembly session. However, the Provincial Law Secretary, Syed Ghulam Nabi Shah said that the governor can change the schedule if he felt necessary.

Qazi Asif adds: Since the announcement of the election results, the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) Sindh has been unable to arrange a single meeting of its elected members in the Sindh Assembly.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has summoned the first session of the newly elected Sindh Assembly for April 5. While PML-Q Sindh President Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has left to perform Umrah, PML-Q Sindh General Secretary Nadir Akmal Leghari has also left Sindh after the registration of a murder case against him.

However, according to party sources, the party is waiting for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to decide whether it will be a part of the Opposition or not.

“Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim is expected to reach Karachi on March 28 and we have ample time to hold a meeting,” said Senator Ghaffar Qureshi, while talking to Daily Times.

The formation of a forward bloc within the PML-Q, led by Zila Nazim Kashmore Saleem Jam Mazari, is also a possibility. “We have adopted a wait-and-see policy and are keenly observing the various developments on the political front,” said Mazari. MPA’s Mir Ghalib Khan Domki, Abid Khan Sundrani, Mohammad Ali Malkani and MNA Nasarullah Bijarani are expected to be a part of the bloc, although an official announcement is due.

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