K-P Assembly session: Opposition boycott holds up core issues

MPAs accuse PTI-led govt of limiting funds to four districts

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly failed to take up a set of core issues on Monday after opposition members boycotted the session.

As a result, Deputy Speaker Dr Mehar Taj Roghani had to adjourn the session until the next day (Tuesday) as government lawmakers failed to talk the opposition out of ending the boycott.

The assembly had to take up the issue of K-P’s share in the Net Hydel Profit (NHP) under the AGN Kazi formula, `Oil and Gas Royalty, National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, Dasu Dam and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).



The deputy speaker sent Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Anisa Zeb and Law Minister Imtiaz Qureshi to lure back the opposition into the house but their ministrations came to naught.

PML-N parliamentary leader in the house Sardar Aurangzeb Nalota announced that the opposition would continue their boycott of the session till the provincial government addressed their reservations.

“The government is not serious about running the province,” Nalota told reporters.

The opposition members complained that the CM is not giving them time and developmental funds have been distribute among the government’s own members while, the funds of the on-going schemes in the opposition members areas have been cut off.

“K-P government should first look into its own actions before complaining about the federal government. Are they doing justice (in developmental projects) among the districts within the province,” asked Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Shah Hussain.

The opposition members accused the government of limiting the developmental funds to only four districts while ignoring the rest of the province. “Their province is limited to only four districts,” PML-N’s Raja Faisal Zaman said.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Censorship of Motion Pictures (Films, CDs, Videos, Stage Dramas and Shows) Bill 2016 was referred to a committee for detailed discussion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2016.