A fast-paced session: Assembly unites over salary increase for MPAs

Government manages to pass several bills despite stiff opposition.

PESHAWAR:

In a rare show of agreement over an issue, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly unanimously approved an increase in the salaries and allowances of assembly members on Friday (March 21).

Perks of being an MPA

After a unanimous approval on the last day of the recently concluded session, assembly members’ monthly salaries have been raised from Rs36,000 to 93,000, while their travelling allowances have been increased from Rs40,000 per annum to Rs120,000 per annum.

Need for speed

A total of 13 bills were passed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly at breakneck speed during this session. Apart from approving a whopping increase in the perks and privileges of assembly members, other major achievements for lawmakers was passing resolutions for the creation of a separate Hazara province and the renaming of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

During the initial days of the session which began on March 11, the proceedings mostly lasted for less than an hour as the speaker managed to get through the day’s agenda quickly and the MPAs did not show much enthusiasm for lengthy proceedings.

The speedy sessions even irked Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Syed Mufti Janan who criticised the government in the March 17 session for the shorter sessions spanning several weeks. Janan maintained that while the members were getting thousands of rupees in perks and privileges, their performance in the house was inadequate.

Senior minister Sirajul Haq, however, responded to Janan’s complaints by saying that during the session the government intended to pass at least 15 bills which were crucial for the government’s reform agenda.

On March 18, the provincial legislature passed three laws in the face of stiff resistance from the opposition benches, including K-P Farm Services Centre bill, Food Safety Authority bill and Tenancy bill amendment.

On March 19, the assembly again managed to pass several bills including, Restriction of Rented Building (Security) bill, Public Private Partnership bill, Journalist Welfare Endowment bill, Energy Development Organization amendment bill and Medical Transplantation Authority bill.

Five more bills were passed on March 21 - the last day of the session - which included Hotels Restriction (security) bill, Finance (amendment) bill, River Protection (amendment) bill, Surrender of Illicit Arms bill and Local Government (amendment) bill.

Incidentally, the government and opposition benches, who do leave any opportunity of sparring, buried the hatchet temporarily and agreed on an increase in the salaries of lawmakers, deputy speaker and speaker as well as other allowances. The assembly unanimously approved the report prepared by a special committee which had been tasked with reviewing members’ salaries.

Trip down memory lane

The committee in question was formed on January 7, when Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had directed information minister Shah Farman to constitute a team to mull revision of members’ salaries and privileges.

At that time, the issue was raised after the government presented an amendment increasing ministers’ house rent from Rs40,000 to Rs55,000. JUI-F’s Mufti Syed Janan had objected to this, saying it should not be limited to ministers but rather implemented across the board for all MPAs.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2014.