Fireworks expected as K-P Assembly reconvenes

The treasury benches and the opposition are expected to lock horns on Wednesday (today) after the provincial government summoned a session of the provincial assembly.

Some members of the opposition have expressed concerns over the abrupt manner in which the session has been summoned.

In a notification issued by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Shah Farman on Tuesday, a session of the provincial assembly has been summoned for 2pm on Wednesday (today).

The house is expected to take various legislations tabled by government members.

Members of the opposition, however, hope to take up the first information reports which were filed by the government against local leaders of the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Reserved Seat MPA Nighat Orakzai, who would expect to take up the adjournment motions she filed during the period the assembly was not in session, raised questions about the way the session had been summoned.

Given the spike in novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the province, Orakzai said that summoning the session without conducting or collecting Covid-19 test reports for all members raises concerns.

“Are they sure that Covid-19 will not spread in the premises of the provincial assembly,” the MPA said, as she lashed out at the treasury benches for registering an FIR against opposition leaders for holding a political gathering in the city.

Meanwhile, the K-P assembly secretariat has issued a set of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) and directed all members to ensure that Covid-19 SOPs are followed. The notice further said that guests will not be allowed during the assembly session while all members must observe Covid-19 SOPs.Net hydel payments

The provincial leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami on Tuesday submitted a resolution in the K-P Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday on the non-payments of net hydel profits by the federal government.

The provincial parliamentary leader of JI Inyatullah Khan submitted the resolution in the assembly secretariat, stating that due to the non-payment of net hydel profits in the financial year 2020-21.

The resolution stated that in the initial month of the ongoing financial year, the federal government paid only Rs2 billion and had promised to pay the remaining Rs3 billion in November.

With December commencing, Inayatullah said that the federal government had failed to fulfil its promises and added that the provincial development programme is closely linked to the flow of funds from the federal government under net hydel profit payments.

The centre, he said, owes the province around Rs104 billion, adding that the presence of a large number of Afghan refugees and the pandemic has pushed the province to the brink of bankruptcy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2020.