Lack of quorum: Opposition boycott stalls K-P Assembly session

Control of Narcotics Substance Bill bans cultivation of cannabis plant, coca bush and opium poppy in the province

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session was boycotted by the opposition members as teachers started their protest against the provincial government on Tuesday.

The boycott broke the assembly quorum forcing the deputy speaker Dr Mehar Taj Roghani to adjourn the sitting till Wednesday without completing the agenda.

During the proceedings, an association of K-P lecturers and professors was protesting outside the assembly building asking the government to fulfill its promise of up-gradation and allowances for the teachers. They were also protesting against a plan of the K-P education department under which autonomous board of governors would be established in each college.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Munawar Khan raised the issue of teachers’ protest as the assembly started its proceedings.

Khan criticised the government for bringing the situation to such a pass that teachers had to leave their duties and start protesting.

All the opposition members were of the opinion that the government is privatizing schools in the province and teachers were protesting the move.

Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak criticised the government for the proposed “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Education Service Act 2017,” which is yet to be tabled in the assembly.

He called the bill an irresponsible move of the K-P government. “This is irresponsible behavior on part of the government. You are removing a teacher from the Civil Service Act. What would be his job security?” Babak asked, referring to the Education Service Act.

He said that the existing laws dealing with the elementary and secondary education in the province were good.

“I challenge the government to come and sit with me on the education laws of our government. Improvements can be made anytime but it doesn't mean you completely discard those laws,” he said. Babak also criticised the government for its response to the Dengue outbreak.

The opposition walked out of the house breaking the quorum after which the session was adjourned.

The Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) joined the opposition benches after being ousted from the government by the PTI central leadership.

Earlier, the law minister tabled the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Bill and the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (Amendment) bill.

The Control of Narcotics Substance Bill seeks the establishment of a special “Narcotics Control Wing” in the K-P excise, taxation and narcotics department for seizing narcotics and prosecuting drug peddlers. The wing will have a force comprising officers and lower staff having the authority to conduct raids.

The bill also covers the newly emerged drug ‘ice’ in the narcotics category and it seeks establishment of special courts for cases related to narcotics.

The bill slaps ban on cultivation of cannabis plant, coca bush and opium poppy in the province. The government will issue license for the cultivation of these plants for medical purposes and the punishment for cultivation of these plants without license will be seven years of imprisonment or fine or both.

The bill also defines various punishments for different types of narcotics’ manufacturing, production, sale, transportation and purchase of narcotics.