K-P assembly: Whirlwind year for provincial legislature

Lawmakers passed host of laws offering legal cover to teachers

PESHAWAR: The  year 2017 was nothing short of a roller coaster for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly which saw many ups and downs.

The assembly passed a few important and controversial laws and held heated debates over government performance and the law and order situation in the province.

Routine business

The house conducted six sessions during the year in 47 sittings. During these six sessions, the House passed 34 bills — a majority of which were amendments to bills.

Moreover, the house passed 38 resolutions on matters of provincial, national and international interest.

Government ministers answered over 150 questions which were asked by members of various government departments.

The house addressed and answered 30 call-to-attention notices by the lawmakers pertaining to different matters and departments. The house also addressed 10 privileged motions and adjournment motions in the sessions.

Critical laws

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly passed the controversial but important Police Act 2017. The law grants enhanced powers to the K-P Police Inspector General (IGP) including those over the administrative, operational and financial affairs of the department.

The law empowers the IGP to serve as an ex-officio secretary to the government of K-P for financial matters and has the power to transfer or depute officers up to the rank of deputy inspector general.

The bill had been deadlocked between senior police officials and the provincial bureaucracy since it would effectively end any role of bureaucrats in the police force.

The bill was finally passed after a clause-by-clause discussion in a committee of the assembly which was chaired by K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak himself.

The house also passed the compulsory primary and secondary education bill 2017, which binds parents of school going children to send their kids to nearby government schools otherwise the government would fine them.

The assembly also passed the K-P Private Schools Regulatory Authority Bill 2017, which seeks the establishment of a regulatory authority for private schools operating in the province.

Under the law, every private school in the province has to register with the school regulatory authority which will then decide on the fee structure for such schools including when fees can be increased and salaries of teachers.

The House passed the budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 which saw the provincial government raise taxes. A bill was also passed for increasing the salaries of assembly members and ministers.

The house also approved a move to regularize the service of 40,000 school teachers and staff of the education department. These teachers had been recruited by the incumbent government through the National Testing Service (NTS) and they had been urging the government to regularize them.

Similarly, the house regularised the services of 7,000 teaching assistants who had been recruited by the government for meeting a shortage of teachers in colleges.

The house also faced a number of embarrassing situations during the year.

At one point a lawmaker from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Gul Sahib Khan, climbed on the desk in front of his seat and started shouting “point of order” as he sought to highlight the unpaid oil and gas royalty issue in Karak. Deputy Speaker Dr Mehar Taj Roghani had stopped him from speaking on the issue, but Gul continued to shout for five minutes until he was persuaded to come down.

Similarly, PTI lawmaker Amjad Khan Afridi held a sit-in in front of the speaker’s desk to protest against injustices with his constituents, particularly relating to the share in developmental funds.

Shah Farman, the K-P government’s spokesperson, resorted to some colourful language for opposition lawmaker Nighat Orakzai from the Pakistan Peoples Party. Farman, though, had to eat his words later and tendered an apology.

The women lawmakers also protested in the assembly and held placards with their complaints in front of the speaker’s desk. They were demanding developmental funds for their constituencies.

Moreover, the assembly, for a second successive year, was invaded by rats.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2018.