Assembly day 3: Opposition questions CM’s mass appointments

Law minister acknowledges govt needs a law to back parliamentary secretaries.

PESHAWAR: The appointment of 32 parliamentary secretaries in one stroke came under much criticism in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday.

The issue of the appointments made by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak last Tuesday cropped up on a point of order by the Awami National Party (ANP) lawmaker Ahmed Khan Bahadar. He told the assembly according to the rules of the house the government can appoint a parliamentary secretary “under any law for the time being.” He then asked the law minister to specify under what law the appointments were made.



Law Minister Israrullah Khan Gandapur said the chief minister has used his executive authority to appoint the secretaries. He, however, acknowledged the government needs a law to back the appointments. The establishment department is working on a law to protect parliamentary secretaries, he said, adding they were once appointed back in 1985 as well. To this Bahadar asked, “If there is no law, how can these secretaries work?”

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl lawmaker Mulvi Asmatullah asked the government to explain whether the appointments were an administrative requirement or a move to please lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Asmatullah said the government could have spared expenses incurred on these secretaries and appointed more sweepers instead. Majority of members from the treasury benches, including the law minister, stood up and protested against this remark.

MPAs occupying the treasury benches asked Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid, who was chairing the session, to expunge the remarks, but opposition members also protested, leading to an intense argument, drowning out voices from both sides.

On the insistence of the treasury benches, ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak apologised, but the speaker did not exclude the remarks. Babak also asked the government to rethink these appointments, which he said were a burden on the war-torn province. He further said the government should appoint standing committees of the house – a call that was backed by Israrullah as well.

Gender discrimination?

Women lawmakers from the opposition benches staged a walkout for being denied development funds, which have been given to all members except eight female lawmakers from the opposition. They demanded that they be given funds from the Tameer Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa programme. The MPAs were brought back to the house by Israrullah and Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan.

Dengue outbreak

Speaking about the dengue outbreak in parts of the province, Health Minister Shaukhat Yousafzai informed the house there were about 3,151 cases reported across the province. He said the government is not unaware of the issue and is also in contact with the Punjab government to use their expertise in curbing the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2013.