Out with the old: First-time lawmakers to face seasoned opposition in K-P

PTI’s 29 out of 35 elected MPAs have no prior experience as legislators.

PESHAWAR:

The foremost challenge lying ahead of many newly-elected MPAs of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly is the inexperience of parliamentary affairs. Many of these individuals have made it to the legislature for the first time and their parliamentary careers will begin on the day they step on the assembly’s floor.

The real challenge is for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a majority of its 35 lawmakers – a total of 29 – are fresh faces with no prior experience of lawmaking. These new entrants will face an opposition comprising members having years of experience under their belts and who are likely to give first-time MPAs a tough time.

The PTI tsunami turned the fate of many a seasoned politicians across the province. However, the real battle for these new lawmakers will be handling the experienced politicians on opposition benches.

In case the Awami National Party’s (ANP) former chief minister (CM) Ameer Haider Khan Hoti retains his seat, the opposition will have three former CMs, the other two being Akram Khan Durrani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan.



The PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party’s coalition government also boasts of seasoned politicians including Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, Sirajul Haq, Bakht Baidar Inyatullah, Anisa Zab Tahir Kheli, Sardar Idress and Yousaf Ayub who can provide the new entrants with helpful counseling.

Interestingly, first-time lawmakers are not a new phenomenon in the history of K-P. When the religious alliance of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) swept the polls in 2002, most of its members had no knowledge of the assembly’s workings.

A majority of them did not know English as well. Therefore, the then chief minister of the erstwhile North West Frontier Province, Akram Khan Durrani, ordered the printing of all legislative documents in Urdu in order to facilitate them.

“Our party has more experience in the opposition than in the government. However, the PTI members are expected to perform according to the wishes of its voters,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the face of K-P’s former ANP-led government. “We will oppose things on the floor of the assembly for the betterment of people, not to create hurdles in smooth governance.”

Iftikhar further said the new government’s performance will unravel in time. “The top most priority of the government should be to bring peace, create employment opportunities and resolve the energy crisis,” he said.

“As the militant leaders have offered to hold talks, the government should bring all stakeholders to a table and work towards eliminating terrorism from the region,” added Iftikhar.

Meanwhile, former CM Akram Khan Durrani has invited members of the opposition parties to discuss a comprehensive strategy for the next five years. “We have invited the members of ANP, Pakistan Peoples Party, All Pakistan Muslim League and independent candidates to chalk out a strategy on what role we will play in the provincial assembly as the opposition.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.