Questioning impartiality: ANP submits motion against speaker’s dual office

PESHAWAR:

Questioning the impartiality of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, the Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak submitted an adjournment motion against the PTI leader on Tuesday.

The speaker is also the provincial president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).



“Though the Constitution is silent on the issue, it has never happened in the constitutional history of the country that a speaker of the legislative body also holds a party portfolio,” said Babak while talking to The Express Tribune. “The speaker is the custodian of the house and morally, he cannot hold dual offices.”



Babak said opposition parties, including Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will also support the adjournment motion. He claimed these parties are against Qaiser being the speaker while also being the PTI provincial president.

He said the PTI has failed to deliver on the promises it made during campaign season. “So far, the people in K-P have not seen the promised change,”
he added.

The issue of holding dual offices has also been the bone of contention within the PTI leadership, and the party is clearly divided. During the PTI’s Central Executive Committee meeting held in July, several senior party members raised objections over a majority of the PTI members in the provincial cabinet holding dual offices. Provincial PTI leaders, however, remain adamant not to relinquish dual offices.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2013.