Pakistan's final assembly sworn in

Members of the Sindh assembly take their oaths

The last of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies, Sindh, has been sworn in, more than two months after the assembly elections.

The 163 assembly members, who were elected on 10 October, took their oath in the provincial capital Karachi, as about 2,000 people watched the proceedings from visitors' chambers.

The Sindh assembly was due to have been sworn in late last month but was delayed as parties

The PML-Q will mostly support President Musharraf

continued to negotiate over the formation of a coalition.

The chief minister and speaker for the assembly are due to be elected in the next few days.

The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) says its candidate for chief minister, Ali Muhammad Maher, would now have enough votes to win.

Agreement

However the setback in swearing in the assembly was caused by the competing Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) unwillingness to work alongside a PML-Q leadership.

The MQM agreed on Wednesday to join the government, giving the coalition enough seats to govern without the support of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

This gives the MQM additional leverage at both regional and national level, since its support for Prime Minister Jamali in the national assembly is crucial.

Although the PPP - the party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - is now in the minority in the Sindh assembly, it says it still intends to run a candidate against Mr Maher in the election for chief minister.

The PPP has the largest single block of seats in the assembly, with 67 out of the 163 seats.

Urban areas in Sindh province are dominated by the MQM who hold 41 of the seats in the assembly.