Incomplete quorum: K-P Assembly adjourned after 10 minutes

Government criticised for not taking house seriously.

PESHAWAR: Members of the opposition benches at the Friday sitting of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly lashed out at IGP Nasir Durrani for not taking action against an SHO as the house had requested.

The house met only for 10 minutes as the treasury benches were empty. MPA Arif Ahmadzai, the presiding officer, had to adjourn the sitting due to an incomplete quorum. However, opposition benches got a chance to raise the issue and criticised the IGP for not paying attention to the decisions of the house.

Ahmadzai headed the sitting since the speaker, Asad Qaiser, was absent.  Opposition members shouted slogans of “Go Imran Go” and asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to quit the provincial government because of their frivolous attitude towards the house. Only four members of the government benches were present when proceedings were called in session.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MPA Mehmood Khan Bhittani raised the issue of absenteeism among members of the house.

“The government is making a mockery of the house,” he said. “All the chairs are empty and only five members of the government benches are present.”

He added the opposition members are addressing rows of empty chairs.

Privilege motions

Bhittani reminded the house about a privilege motion that was tabled before the house by JUI-F MPA Malik Riaz 40 days ago. The motion was against an SHO from Mandan who had been demanding extortion.

He said Qaiser had ruled on the privilege motion, ordering IGP to immediately suspend the SHO and conduct a departmental enquiry against him.

“The IGP has not yet taken any action against the accused SHO, despite the speaker’s ruling,” said Bhittani. He added Riaz had submitted another privilege motion against the IGP which was never made a part of the house proceedings.

PTI MPA Mehmood Jan capitalised on the situation to raise a privilege motion against the SHO of Mathra. Orders of SHO’s removal were issued from the floor of the house, while the issue was referred to the privilege committee of the house.

“The status of the motion should be clarified because the SHO was restored to his duties before the decision of the privilege committee could be declared,” said Jan. Ahmadzai voiced his concern over the situation and asked K-P Government Spokesperson and Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Mushtaq Ghani to delay the issues for house proceedings amid the lack of serious attitude from government members.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha informed that a sitting of the house costs millions while government members remain absent from the proceedings.  “If PTI members cannot run the government, then they should hand it over to someone else,” he said.

He added the privilege motion against IGP is removed from the agenda. MPA Malik Riaz said he moved the motion on October 5, “However, IGP turned a cold shoulder to the orders of the speaker. IGP is an employee, not a ruler. He should obey the speaker’s orders,” Riaz said. He walked out of the house in protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^th, 2015.