K-P Assembly deadlocked over mines & minerals bill

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly remained divided over the promulgation of the Mines and Minerals Act 2025 as its draft bill has failed to gain consensus between the government and opposition members.

On Monday, the Speaker of the Assembly convened a second meeting to forge consensus, but it ended without any outcome. Several members, including those from the merged districts, boycotted the meeting.

Subsequently, the Speaker halted further proceedings on the bill, making its progress contingent upon the approval of the founder of PTI.

It is worth noting that the first meeting on April 14 also failed to yield any results due to objections from opposition members and a walkout by over 15 members from the merged districts.

According to sources, several meetings were held after that to address the concerns of government members. However, members from the merged districts remain unsatisfied even after the second meeting to reach a consensus on the bill.

Most members were absent from the briefing, and those from the merged districts insisted on boycotting it.

Sources also indicate that before the briefing, several closed-door meetings were held to convince members, but no agreement could be reached.

Despite the efforts of the Speaker and ministers to persuade them, the attempts proved unsuccessful.

During the briefing on the bill at the Assembly Jirga Hall, the Awami National Party (ANP) presented its stance and then decided to unanimously boycott the meeting. Several members, including those from the merged districts, PTI's Peshawar MPA Fazal Elahi, Swat's Mian Sharafat, and Mardan's Tariq, boycotted the session.

The dissatisfied members set up a protest outside the Assembly. According to sources, government members are also divided over the proposed act. Some government members are now demanding amendments to the 2017 act instead of introducing a new bill, which was approved by the cabinet and presented in the assembly.

Due to the boycott by members of various political parties, the meeting ended without results.

Chairman of the Good Governance Forum, Dr Akhtar Ali Shah, also recommended withdrawing the proposed Act. Instead, he suggests suitably amending the existing Act in light of the observations and proposals made in the document, and any further amendments by the lawmakers. He emphasized the importance of adhering to the federal spirit of the Constitution and preserving the legislative, administrative, and financial autonomy of the province.

After the meeting, ANP's Nisar Baaz and Opposition Leader Dr Ibadullah Khan spoke to the media, maintaining that if the Act is not in the province's interest, he will discuss it with the prime minister.

He acknowledged that the 2017 act is also a human-made law with potential flaws. He also questioned why the cabinet approved the bill if government members had reservations about it during the briefing. He accused the government of trying to pass the proposed law in the dead of night and criticized government members for conditioning the law's passage on the PTI founder's approval.