K-P Assembly’s year in review

Held longest session in history of province; shortest sitting held for three minutes

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly held only one session in 2015 – the longest in the province’s history. This was the 15th session of the present assembly and has been continuing since October 23, 2014.

The parliamentarians met 61 times during the year, with one sitting which lasted all of three minutes and had six lawmakers in attendance. The government introduced 37 legislative bills in the house in 2015 and passed 37 bills, including six from the previous years. Majority of the bills that were enacted were amendments in existing laws, including the K-P Local Government Act 2013, K-P Right to Information Act 2013 and K-P Ehtesab Commission Act 2014. The controversial and heavily criticised K-P Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Bill 2015 and the K-P Universities (Amendment) Act 2015 were also enacted this year.



The PTI-led provincial government introduced bill for the K-P Conflict of Interest Act 2014. However, it is still pending approval. The bill was well-received by the public as it limits VIP culture and clamps down on corruption through its clauses. The bill, however, has yet to pass as certain members of the government and opposition have reservations over it. The house included itself in the ambit of the RTI law through an amendment in the act, which was also lauded by the public. Under the act, the public was given the right to get information regarding the house. The house also unanimously passed the Finance Act 2015-16 when the opposition boycotted the budget session this year.

CPEC

On the non-legislative side, the house passed 49 resolutions on various topics including one demanding the federal government implement the decisions taken at all-parties conference on May 28, 2015 vis-à-vis the CPEC in letter and spirit. Over 10 privileged motions were submitted by the members along with 49 call attention notices and eight adjournment motions.

Senate polls

The house also took part in the senate elections and 12 senators from the province were elected this year. It also elected Azam Swati on by-polls for the seat in the upper house of the parliament vacated by Awami National Party’s late Azam Khan Hoti.

The year saw Ziaullah Afridi, a sitting minister and member of the house, jailed under corruption charges. He was produced before the house on special orders of the speaker to clarify his position and refute the allegations against him.

Just after the assembly saw reshuffling on the benches with Qaumi Watan Party re-joining the coalition, the house elected Dr Mehar Taj Roghani as its first ever female deputy speaker, a slot which many PTI parliamentarians were eyeing.

Big on talking

Members of the opposition remained the most vocal throughout the year.

From ANP Syed Jafar Shah and Sardar Hussain Babak; from Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Mufti Syed Janan, Shah Hussain, and Munawar Khan; and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha were the ones with the most motions and questions from the opposition.

On the treasury’s side Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami, Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, Shah Farman and Atif Khan of PTI and QWP’s Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli were among the most vocal parliamentarians.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2015.