Going strong: Assembly session enters sixth month

Critics say session adjourned repeatedly to avoid elections for deputy speaker.

PESHAWAR: The term ‘never-ending’ took on new meaning on March 24, 2015 when the current session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly entered its sixth month, probably the longest period in the history of the legislature.

Since October, Speaker Asad Qaiser, instead of proroguing the session, has opted for lengthy adjournments on several occasions.

Extended lease

On January 13, he adjourned the session till February 6. Two days into the session on February 9, he adjourned it till February 16.

On February 27, the session was again adjourned till March 10 due to Senate elections. On March 12, two days after the session resumed, it was again adjourned till March 24. Finally, on March 27, the session was adjourned till April 3.

Though the lengthy session appears to provide a sense of urgency, in reality both treasury and opposition lawmakers are seemingly taking little interest in house proceedings.



On March 24 and 27, when the house held two sittings, the sessions hardly lasted an hour and most questions calling attention to notices and adjournment motions could not be taken up and so lapsed. On March 27, even when Qaiser asked Minister for Education Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani to present the Universities Act and K-P Censorship of Motion Pictures Bill 2015, the latter asked for the matter to be deferred. He said the departments wanted to incorporate some changes into both pieces of legislation. The session, which lasted an hour at the most, was adjourned till April 3.

Playing hide and seek?

Lawmakers blame the lengthy session on the government’s failure to appoint a deputy speaker.

The seat has been vacant since October last year when the then deputy speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi took oath as law minister.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Parliamentary Leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha termed the prolonged session a violation of the rules.

He said internal rifts in PTI were responsible for the delay in electing a deputy speaker as the government fears their candidate would lose to the opposition in a secret ballot. He claimed this fear kept the government from issuing a schedule for deputy speaker elections despite repeated requests from the opposition.

“This is probably the first time such a lengthy session is taking place,” Nalotha added. He said he was unaware of any overtures towards the opposition from the chief minister regarding the ballot for deputy speaker.

Divide and rule

PTI’s camp is divided with three people eyeing the position. Among those vying for the seat are Special Assistant for Law Arif Yousf, Mehmood Jan and Dina Naz. “I have conveyed my intentions to the party leadership and now I am waiting to see how they react,” one of the aspirants told The Express Tribune, requesting anonymity.

On the other hand, an official at the Assembly Secretariat said the prolonged session was not linked with the election of the deputy speaker.

“Under the Muttahida Majlis Amal government, the deputy speaker post remained vacant for over a year-and-a-half. However, nothing like this happened then,” said the official.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2015.