On hold: K-P Assembly session adjourned to quell dissent

Move meant to thwart disgruntled PTI members’ protest, claim lawmakers.

PESHAWAR:

Hours before it was scheduled to convene for a sitting on Monday afternoon, Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, fuelling speculation of an internal rift rocking the government’s boat.

A statement issued from the Assembly Secretariat stated Monday’s 2pm sitting has been deferred while a one-line notice on the assembly’s website also stated the session has been adjourned till February 16. Both notices did not cite a reason for the postponement. The adjournment is not in violation of official rules because Section 21 of the Assembly Rules of Procedure empowers the speaker to adjourn a session, and “if he thinks fit, call a sitting of the assembly at a time and date different from that to which it was earlier adjourned.”

Avoiding a face-off

According to insiders, the rescheduling was spurred by fears of a possible protest in the house by disgruntled members of the ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

For the past several months, a group comprising several PTI lawmakers has been acting as a counterweight to the government. When the house returned from a month-long recess on Friday, the disgruntled MPAs made a request to be allowed to speak on the floor of the house, but the speaker asked them to 0wait till he disposed of the agenda under discussion.

However, the speaker later adjourned the session without completing the agenda for the day and without allowing the angry members to speak. The aggrieved MPAs later spoke to the media and alleged the health minister, special assistant on environment and adviser to CM on prisons had illegally appointed over 800 people in their respective departments.

The disgruntled members were likely to raise the issue during Monday’s session if it hadn’t been delayed.

The opposition’s view

Mehmood Jan, one of the aggrieved lawmakers, told The Express Tribune it seemed their protest was the reason for the adjournment, adding he was not aware of any other factors that might have led Speaker Qaiser to take the decision.

“The session should not have been put off because the agenda for the sitting was already distributed among lawmakers on Friday. Adjourning a session after distributing the agenda is not a proper thing to do,” said Jan.

According to PPP’s parliamentary leader Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha, he was informed about the adjournment via phone while he was already on his way to Peshawar to attend it. Bacha said it was an out-of-the-blue announcement for him, adding PTI’s internal differences might have played a role in it.

PML-N’s parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalutha said Speaker Asad Qaiser personally contacted him and other parliamentary leaders on the phone to inform them. However, Qaiser did not cite a reason for the adjournment, added Nalutha. The PML-N leader also speculated the reason could be a possible protest from PTI MPAs.

“PTI’s disgruntled lawmakers were going to give the treasury benches a tough time today and the session was probably adjourned to thwart this possibility,” said Nalutha.

According to Nalutha, the rescheduling was uncalled for and had no precedent in the history of the assembly. “Ideally, he (Qaiser) should have come to the house and announced the adjournment there,” he said, adding the decision was in violation of parliamentary traditions and lawmakers were not happy about it.

Nalutha stated opposition parties will meet on Tuesday (today) to chalk out their course of action on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2015.