Last session: Assembly ends abruptly as governor sends late order
Mian Iftikhar was the sole member from the ruling Awami National Party.
According to Hussain, many lawmakers left the house after the session was delayed and the order was received in the assembly secretariat at around 3:45pm. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
PESHAWAR:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly’s last session came to an abrupt end after a late prorogation order from the governor on Tuesday. The sudden disruption on a private-member day angered the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) whose members had the largest number of bills on the agenda.
The session which had to start at 4pm was delayed for over two and a half hours, eventually starting at 6:30pm.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain was the sole member from the ruling Awami National Party (ANP). Only 50 members turned up at the assembly.
When the session started, Israrullah Khan Gandapur pointed towards the quorum, upon which Assembly Speaker Kiramatullah Chagarmati first congratulated the lawmakers on completing the five-year tenure. The speaker followed this by reading out Governor Shaukatullah Khan’s prorogation order.
“I am announcing prorogation with a heavy heart,” said Chagarmati.
The irate PPP parliamentarians argued if the quorum is not complete; technically the assembly is not in session and cannot be discontinued. However, Chagarmati maintained the governor has the remit to call and prorogue a session.
Talking to the media outside the assembly, a frustrated Abdul Akbar Khan hinted the ANP was not happy with the assembly’s private-member day agenda.
He said PPP members had the majority of bills on the agenda. Khan asserted his party members had several important bills, including the contract employees’ regularisation and the Public Service Commission. Perhaps the ANP was not satisfied with the PPP’s legislation, stated Abdul Akbar Khan.
“Tuesday’s agenda was the largest in parliamentary history, as it had 35 items,” said Khan. When the governor’s order was read, the assembly was not in session as there were not enough members present – the prorogation announcement could not have been made in such a situation, maintained the aggravated PPP lawmaker.
Information Minister Hussain denied the ANP purposefully created a “quorum problem”. “Maybe it was a coincidence that none of [the ANP] lawmakers turned up for the session,” he said. “So far it was the ANP which was meeting the assembly quorum.”
According to Hussain, many lawmakers left the house after the session was delayed and the order was received in the assembly secretariat at around 3:45pm.
However, the end of the assembly session was quite unexpected as on Monday, the speaker had hinted the meeting will run till March 15 when a photo session would take place and all lawmakers had to ensure their presence.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2013.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly’s last session came to an abrupt end after a late prorogation order from the governor on Tuesday. The sudden disruption on a private-member day angered the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) whose members had the largest number of bills on the agenda.
The session which had to start at 4pm was delayed for over two and a half hours, eventually starting at 6:30pm.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain was the sole member from the ruling Awami National Party (ANP). Only 50 members turned up at the assembly.
When the session started, Israrullah Khan Gandapur pointed towards the quorum, upon which Assembly Speaker Kiramatullah Chagarmati first congratulated the lawmakers on completing the five-year tenure. The speaker followed this by reading out Governor Shaukatullah Khan’s prorogation order.
“I am announcing prorogation with a heavy heart,” said Chagarmati.
The irate PPP parliamentarians argued if the quorum is not complete; technically the assembly is not in session and cannot be discontinued. However, Chagarmati maintained the governor has the remit to call and prorogue a session.
Talking to the media outside the assembly, a frustrated Abdul Akbar Khan hinted the ANP was not happy with the assembly’s private-member day agenda.
He said PPP members had the majority of bills on the agenda. Khan asserted his party members had several important bills, including the contract employees’ regularisation and the Public Service Commission. Perhaps the ANP was not satisfied with the PPP’s legislation, stated Abdul Akbar Khan.
“Tuesday’s agenda was the largest in parliamentary history, as it had 35 items,” said Khan. When the governor’s order was read, the assembly was not in session as there were not enough members present – the prorogation announcement could not have been made in such a situation, maintained the aggravated PPP lawmaker.
Information Minister Hussain denied the ANP purposefully created a “quorum problem”. “Maybe it was a coincidence that none of [the ANP] lawmakers turned up for the session,” he said. “So far it was the ANP which was meeting the assembly quorum.”
According to Hussain, many lawmakers left the house after the session was delayed and the order was received in the assembly secretariat at around 3:45pm.
However, the end of the assembly session was quite unexpected as on Monday, the speaker had hinted the meeting will run till March 15 when a photo session would take place and all lawmakers had to ensure their presence.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2013.