No horsing around: Opposition takes strong exception to JI chief’s statement

Sirajul Haq retracts remarks on horse-trading, says MPAs will set example in Senate polls.

PESHAWAR:

Members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday took strong exception to a statement made by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq about horse-trading in the upcoming Senate elections.

The issue was raised by PPP lawmaker Nighat Orakzai who regretted the statement Siraj made on Thursday in which Haq said wealthy candidates had turned the legislature into a cattle market. Nighat said Siraj was referring to members of the house as sheep and goats.

She said polling for the Senate was conducted through a secret ballot and members would vote according to their own conscience and aspirations. Orakzai added every citizen can submit his or her papers for Senate elections if backed by an approver and a seconder. She also asked Speaker Asad Qaiser to issue a ruling forbidding anyone from maligning the house.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha said first the PTI Chairperson, Imran Khan, levelled allegations that votes were being traded for Rs20 million. He added, “Now the JI chief issued a similar statement and likened members of the house to cattle.” Nalotha assured MPAs will resist anyone involved in selling or buying votes. He stressed public representatives should not be maligned in such a manner.  Speaker Asad Qaiser also observed that assembly members would show strength of character in the upcoming polls.

Backtracking from Thursday’s statement, Sirajul Haq said he was delighted to hear such strong statements against horse-trading from MPAs. He said the members showed that candidates using wealth for a seat in the Upper House would not be successful.

However, he called for a review of the electoral system, saying it would be a miracle for a common man to reach any of the assemblies under the current circumstances. He pointed out that several people were elected to the Senate from K-P in 2002 and other elections, but none of them spoke of the province after making it to the Upper House.

Regi Lalma cost escalation

Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan informed the house on an adjournment motion that cost of the Regi Lalma housing scheme had escalated to Rs29 billion from the initial estimate of Rs3 billion.

Responding to ANP MPA Yasmeen Pir Mohammad Khan’s adjournment motion, he said the project was initiated in 1992, however, it could not be completed due to land disputes. Khan said he has held 35 meetings with the Kukikhel tribesmen of Khyber Agency over this issue. He said the government was in control of two zones of the project and partially controlled a third.

Law and order

Opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman criticised the government for its silence over the terrorist attack on the Imamia Mosque in Hayatabad, Peshawar on February 13.

He said the government had failed to control the law and order situation and was transferring its responsibilities to the public. Inayatullah defended the government, saying it was doing everything in its power to curb incidents of violence. He said the blame game was not the solution and the government was performing its duties.

Meanwhile, a bill to regularise the services of 503 ad hoc and contractual medical officers serving in government hospitals of the province was tabled before the house. The session was later adjourned till next Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2015.