A noisy cycle: K-P Assembly at loggerheads over increasing forest royalties for Swat, Dir

Opposition members walkout after another issue was not referred to standing committee.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly rejected a resolution moved by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawmaker from Dir, Mohammad Ali, on Wednesday, after the chief minister opposed it. It had called for increasing forest royalties for Swat and Dir from 60% to 80%.

Earlier, opposition members staged a walkout after treasury benches quashed their bid to refer a notice to the standing committee.



The issue was raised by Bannu MPA, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Azam Khan Durrani, when he drew attention towards the sacking of 72 municipal employees in his district. Durrani told the house the Bannu Chief Municipal Officer dismissed these employees on September 20 last year, and employed 49 others to the same posts on October 14. He claimed the new appointees were members of JI and requested the speaker to send this matter to the standing committee.

However, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan said the employees sacked had not been hired on a regular basis. He said they were working on a fixed pay and were issued notices for removal because they were not doing their duty. Inayatullah claimed he was ready for a departmental inquiry, however, opposed sending the matter to the standing committee. The minister insisted it was not right to burden committees with such matters as their role was legislative.

After a long exchange of finer constitutional points, K-P Assembly Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi ruled the committee can take up such issues. However, he asked the speaker call a vote on the matter, wherein the opposition’s move was defeated. The opposition members staged a walkout from the house and did not return until the session was prorogued by the speaker for an indefinite period.

Questions, chaos

Earlier, opposition and treasury benches traded barbs over the issue of terrorism. Opposition lawmakers took the government to task for not nominating militant leaders in incidents of attacks on policemen. The house was informed that 65 policemen had been killed since May 13, 2013. Awami National Party parliamentarian Sardar Hussain Babak asked the treasury benches whether they registered FIRs against militant leaders who claim responsibility for such attacks.

Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq responded, saying the issue of law and order should not be politicised. He proposed setting up a committee of opposition parliamentary leaders and the chief minister to discuss this issue.

Unsatisfied, opposition lawmakers and treasury members abandoned protocol, and started arguing loudly, causing the speaker to threaten members with adjourning the session.

The K-P Higher Education Scholarships Endowment Fund Bill and K-P Deserving Widows and Special Persons’ Welfare Foundation Bill were passed unanimously. The health minister also presented the K-P Food Safety Authority Act 2014 before the house.

A unanimous resolution was passed, condemning the torture of Khyber Union of Journalist Senior Vice President Mohammad Naeem on assembly premises. The resolution was moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Arif Yousaf.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2014.