Treasury benches face embarrassment

PESHAWAR: The treasury benches in Khyber Pakht unkhwa Assembly on Tuesday faced embarrassment for not being able to table two important bills as the assembly was adjourned after a member from the opposition benches pointed out the lack of quorum.
This has been one of the longest sessions in history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and it was obvious that the lawmakers including ministers and parliamentary secretaries had lost interest in the assembly’s proceedings. The low presence of treasury bench members led to lack of quorum and it was exploited by the opposition to embarrass the tripartite ruling coalition led by the PTI.
Despite ringing the bell for two minutes, the ruling alliance could not manage to complete the quorum when the opposition members walked out of the assembly proceeding.
The government was supposed to pass the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shops and Establishment Bill 2015 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition of Employment of Children Bill 2015.
There were less than 30 members in the 124-member House at the time of counting and Speaker Asad Qaiser had no option but to adjourn the sitting till Friday after noon.
Earlier, the combined opposition staged a walkout in protest against what they called the unjustified utilisation of 25 percent fund by local government department from the MPAs’ fund in every district of the province.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MPA Munawar Khan raised the issue on a point of order and walked out from the House followed by other opposition MPAs.
Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan said the funds had been used by the Local Government Department through local administration with the consensus of local communities since 1990.
He added that after the local bodies’ election in May this year these funds would be utilised by district governments across the province.During the question-hour, Speaker Asad Qaiser took strong notice of an incomplete and incorrect answer by the Establishment Department and the question relating to posting and transfer of grade 17 to 21 government employees was referred to the Special Committee of the House.
JUI-F MPA Zarin Gul Khan, mover of the question, also tabled a privilege motion against the Establishment Department for presenting false and incomplete information to the provincial assembly.
Another privilege motion moved by JUI-F MPA Noor Saleem Khan against Sports Department was referred to the House privilege committee. He had objected that the department had not replied to the provincial assembly within the specific period.
Through an adjournment motion, parliamentary leader of Qaumi Watan Party Sikandar Sherpao showed concern over the blockade of hundreds of Computerised National Identity Cards of people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata by the Nadra for unknown reasons.
He said that issuance of CNIC was the fundamental right of every citizen of Pakistan but the Nadra authorities had blocked hundreds of already issued cards to the Pakhtun people. He asked the provincial government to take up this issue with the federal government immediately as it would have an adverse affect on the upcoming local bodies’ polls in the province.
Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan supported Sikabdar Sherpao’s stance and promised that a strong-worded resolution would be tabled in the provincial assembly in this regard.