Taking a stand, at a sit-in: Lawmakers to protest province’s electricity woes

Attempt on Aftab Sherpao’s life condemned, thorough probe demanded

PESHAWAR:

In one of those rare shows of solidarity, members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have agreed to hold a sit-in outside the National Assembly next week to protest the province’s electricity woes and changes in the China-Pak Economic Corridor.

PTI’s Shah Farman, the minister for public health engineering, raised the issue on Monday on a point of order as the K-P Assembly reconvened. Farman drew the house’s attention towards Peshawar Electric Supply Company’s failure to install electricity transformers in the constituencies of lawmakers who have made payments for them from their funds.

On one hand, K-P’s lawmakers are not getting transformers in their areas, while on the other, PML-N’s senior leader Amir Muqam is “distributing transformers across the province in a kingly fashion”, Farman said.

The minister said next week the province’s lawmakers will head to Islamabad to protest against prolonged power cuts. He added they will not return till their concerns are resolved.

JUI-F lawmaker from Torghar Zarin Gul and QWP’s Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli backed Farman and said opposition lawmakers will also accompany treasury MPAs to plead the province’s case.

Senior minister Inayatullah Khan asked Speaker Asad Qaiser to include the issue of the Pak-China trade route in the agenda as well because the K-P government had not been kept in the loop over proposed changes to the corridor. Khan said the sit-in will continue as long as the province’s issues remain unresolved.

Speaker Qaiser told the house that a parliamentary leaders’ committee headed by the chief minister would meet on Thursday to discuss these issues and chalk out the K-P government’s course of action.

Attack on Sherpao condemned

The house also passed a unanimous resolution condemning the suicide attack on Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.

The resolution, jointly moved by treasury and opposition benches, stated that the house views the attempt as an attack on democratic forces in the country and an attack on K-P’s political leadership.

Lawmakers called for a thorough probe into the incident and demanded those responsible be taken to task.

QWP parliamentary leader Sikandar Sherpao had raised the issue on a point of order. Sikandar said Pukhtun leaders raising their voices for the province were being targeted. He added attempts to push Pukhtuns against the wall would have disastrous consequences for the country.

Inayatullah Khan, Anisa Zeb Tahrikheli, Shah Farman, Shahram Tarakai, Ahmed Khan Bahadar and Muhammad Asmatullah lent their support to Sikandar.

Speaker Asad Qaiser directed the treasury benches to complete the investigation report within a fortnight and share its findings with the house.

K-P Shops and Establishment Bill 2015, K-P Prohibition of Employment of Children Bill 2015 and K-P Judicial Academy (Amendment) Bill 2015 were unanimously passed by the house. The session was adjourned till Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2015.