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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Debate on law & order: Treasury, opposition exchange broadside in KP Assembly

By Nisar Mahmood
December 12, 2017

PESHAWAR: The treasury benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly faced stiff resistance from the opposition when Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman wanted to wind up the debate on the law and order situation in the province.

Just after the end of the Question Hour, the treasury and opposition members exchanged shouts over the issue of referring a privilege motion of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker to the committee concerned.

The mover had emphasised on referring his privilege motion about inauguration of a library at Lakki Marwat to the committee, but Higher Education Minister Mushtaq Ghani, belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposed it. It prompted provincial assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to put it to a vote.

In the meanwhile, the Speaker gave the floor to Minister Shah Farman to wind up the debate on law and order that the House had already discussed for two days. The opposition members stood up on their seats and started talking loudly. The treasury members retaliated, turning the House into a fish market.

The opposition lawmakers staged a walkout from the House, and Fakhre Azam Wazir of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) pointed out the lack of quorum. After counting, the Speaker adjourned the session for some time. However, the session had to be adjourned as the quorum couldn’t be completed after the break.

Earlier, the House unanimously adopted a resolution condemning US President Donald Trump’s decision of recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and shifting of the US Embassy there.

The resolution, moved by Fakhre Azam Wazir, and signed by members from different political parties in the House, said the US President’s announcement was unjustified and reflected his hatred against Muslims.

It noted that the move triggered protests throughout the world. It added that the Pakistani nation and government properly registered protest and called for withdrawal of the decision violating the UN Charter.

Through another resolution passed unanimously, the assembly demanded right to vote to overseas Pakistanis.

The resolution moved by Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani said that Pakistanis working in foreign countries not only earned livelihood for their families, but contributed to the exchequer.

It said they deserved proper attention of the Pakistani embassies to solve their problems. It added that the Pakistani migrant workers should be given the right to cast and send their votes to the embassies concerned.

Earlier, the Speaker deferred questions by the opposition members about local governments as the relevant minister was not present to give reply.

The Speaker welcomed to the House a delegation of secretariat staff of the Punjab and Balochistan assemblies. The delegation was earlier briefed on digitalisation of the KP Assembly proceedings.

Speaker Asad Qaiser informed the delegation that KP Assembly was the first legislative assembly in the country and across South Asia to have computerised its legislative business by launching its e-governance system.