Deputy Speaker, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi on Wednesday directed the provincial ministers to ensure their presence in assembly sessions in future. In his ruling, he appreciated the opposition legislators for timely attending the sessions but deplored constant absence of ministers even without getting any prior information. He expressed the hope that the ministers and treasury members would not repeat the same practice in future.
Soon after recitation of the Holy Quran at 4.10 pm instead of it schedule from 3:00 pm, a legislator pointed out lack of quorum and the speaker directed to ring the bill for two minutes but the attendance was thin. He said the proceeding instead of 3:00 pm started at 4:00 pm but still the quorum was incomplete in the government's convened session.
The JUI-F leader observed that the nation was spending millions of rupees on these sessions but this ongoing trend of not attending the session, was injustice with the nation and we should not waste the nation time and money of the poor people. He asked the chair to adjourn it sine die if the government was not taking it serious.
Supporting the mover, the Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said not a single minister was present. He observed that majority of the ministers come for a few minutes and disappear and sought the speaker ruling to ensure presence of ministers. The JUI-F Fazal Ghafoor also asked the chair to ensure presence of ministers.
Sardar Hussain Babak of ANP raised the absence of ministers again when the privilege motion of Mohammad Ali was referred to committee wherein he complained against the forest officer for his insulting attitude.
The Qaumi Watan Party, Anisa Zeb, who had earlier supported the mover posed a question as to whether there was any illegality in responding on behalf of the ministers. She said it was collective responsibility of cabinet suggesting the opposition to pinpoint any shortcomings if any instead of scoring political points.
She asked the opposition as to whether they had not seen such practices in the past and if not, they should not make political scoring. She said the minister had to attend another meeting. On a point of order, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Nighat Orakzai alleged that one of the legislators from the ruling alliance had admitted her relative bypassing another student with higher marks.
She called for the constitution of a committee to hold investigation and action against all the responsible including the MPA. Soran Singh said his name was reported in the press but supported the mover and urged the government to hold investigations as to why his name was mentioned. He said he would tender his resignation to the chair and would not sit for a minute if his involvement was proved in such cases. He said he had been elected on the PTI ticket to ensure justice and would not usurp others rights.
Muzaffar Syed and Mohammad Ali of Jamaat-i-Islami observed that the security forces had started strange operation in Dir Bala and Dir Lower and collecting weapons from the people in their peaceful areas. They said the government should have discuss the issue with the local jirga comprising elders and if they failed to solve the problems then they could take action but such unnecessary operations and taking actions against the peaceful people could create law and order problems. The provincial minister Habibur Rehman directed the officials to collect detail information regarding operation and ensure respect to the citizen.
The ANP's Sardar Babak recalled the anti-education forces had attacked a minor school girl Malala Yousafzai to silence her voice but appreciated the World for recognising and honouring her mission. He vowed to continue and accelerate efforts for restoration of peace and promotion of education. The JUI-F's Maulana Asmatullah recalled that thousands of Ulema and common people had lost their lives during the last decades. He said according to constitution, they would promote Islamic education and could not support and encourage the world bodies promoting a particular mind set.
