All guns blazing : Assembly turns into battleground as BoK report delayed

Gloves off as Shah Farman and ANP’s Babak take swipes at each other

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly floor turned into a battleground on Friday as the treasury benches could no longer take the criticism coming from the opposition, resulting in verbal confrontations. On the other hand, the scientifically accepted average lifespan of a rat was brought into question by the statement from a minister.

The government succeeded in keeping the Cabinet committee report on the Bank of Khyber issue under wraps as K-P Deputy Speaker Dr Mehar Taj Roghani prorogued the session. The government is now to present the report for discussion on Monday as promised by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on the floor of the house.

During the debates and speeches, temperatures rose in the question and answer session when Awami National Party Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak criticised the treasury benches for settling net hydel profits (NHP) with the federal government without consulting the opposition.

He slammed the government for settling the long-running dispute which the PTI-led administration decided would be settled at Rs70 billion.

Babak said Khattak also bowed before the federal government for delaying a census in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests.

“I don’t understand how the provincial government can settle NHP at Rs70 billion,” he said. “The solo flight of the government has affected the struggle for our rights against the federal government.”

He also lashed out at Khattak for promising that the Cabinet committee report on the Bank of Khyber issue would be presented in the house on Monday.

“According to my knowledge, you are ending the session today,” he said. “This is a joke with the assembly and its members who come to the house to speak about their issues, but the government is not taking them seriously.”

He said parties in the government should distribute developmental funds among one other, but that does not mean the opposition members get a lesser share. “We should not be forced to start press conferences outside the assembly hall during the sessions,” Babak warned.

“The government’s boat is sinking because it has a hole in it,” he said.  Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman interrupted Babak during his speech. The latter’s microphone was closed and this gave Farman the chance to take a swipe at the ANP leader.

Farman asked Babak to explain how Syed Masoom Shah reached a plea bargain agreement. “You have accepted your corruption in the court,” he said.

The minister accused Babak of recruiting 1,000 teachers in the education department and the incumbent minister removed them for not coming to school and staying in Dubai. They continued yelling at each other. The deputy speaker had to call for a break to end up the spat.

The second verbal tussle was between Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai and PPP lawmaker Fakhr Azam Wazir. The latter wanted Tarakai to fix matters related to the rural health clinic in Domel. Tarakai said problems, such as the need for a bigger generator, would be fixed in the next budget. However, Wazir wanted immediate relief for the public and this angered Tarakai who asked Wazir to “correct” his attitude.

Rat bites

Babak raised the issue of rat bites in the city and asked the government to take the matter seriously. Shah Farman said the vermin were “eight to nine years old which means they were present in the previous government”. He said if the last regime had done its job, there would be no need to kill them today. It is worth mentioning here that the average lifespan of rats is about two years.

Chitral’s woes

PML-N lawmaker Rashad Khan diverted the house’s attention towards the rain-affected areas of Shangla district. He said relief authorities had not even started a single drinking water scheme in the area.

The government also presented the K-P Ehtesab Commission (Amendment) Bill 2016 in the house.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2016.