MPA dragged out of KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: The treasury benches Monday faced an embarrassing situation when one of its lawmakers thundered against the government over alleged discrimination and tried to stage a sit-in in front of the speaker.
Babar Saleem, elected from PK-31 Swabi, was dragged off the floor of the House into the lobby by Muhammad Ali, an MPA from Jamaat-e-Islami. The forcible removal of Babar Saleem annoyed the opposition that supported the ignored lawmaker. When the opposition joined Babar Saleem, atmosphere soured in the assembly.
Speaker Asad Qaiser, who chaired the meeting, tried to pacify the situation and it was going out of control, prompting him to go for a break to allow time to the treasury benches to subside the situation.
Babar Saleem took the floor on a point of order after question hour session. He severely criticised the government and his own party, the Awami Jamhoori Ittihad Pakistan (AJIP). The MPA alleged that his share in the funds of public health engineering had been directed to a female lawmaker from his party, Khatoon Bibi.
“Can someone tell me that whether I am an MPA or not,” he asked a question, replying it himself. “The documents in front of me at least say that I am MPA from PK-31,” he said while flicking through documents.
The legislator said his party had got seven per cent share in the public health engineering funds but the AJIP leadership did not give him a penny.He said his funds were given to the woman MPA who was elected on reserved seat, not on general seat. “She has been shown as an MPA from PK-31 the constituency which I represent,” he said.
“If all the tenders in my constituency are not cancelled immediately, I will see who has the courage to carry out development in our areas,” he warned.The angry young MPA has developed differences with his party leadership, who is apparently victimising him by not giving him funds.The AJIP has five seats in the provincial assembly, including a woman on reserved seat, and is part of the coalition government.
Adviser to chief minister Amjad Afridi, Khaliquzzam and Muhammad Ali held talks with the disgruntled Babar Saleem. They assured him on the floor of the House that his grievances would be removed.“I assure him on behalf of the chief minister that his reservations would be addressed,” Amjad Afridi said.
Babar Saleem apologised to the House over his use of tough language and requested the speaker to expunge any un-parliamentary words he might have used.Meanwhile, the assembly passed an amendment to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Delimitation of Local Council Bill 2015. It would take back the powers from the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out delimitation for the local government elections.
Local Government Minister Inayatullah said the Supreme Court verdict that said delimitation should be done by the ECP did not apply to KP. He said it was satisfied with the delimitation already carried out by the provincial government.
The controversial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority Bill 2015 was referred to the Select Committee for recommendations.