KP Ehtesab Commission DG post: Opposition protests PTI minister kin’s appointment

PESHAWAR: The combined opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday questioned the credibility and performance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) as it was functioning under an acting director general whose tenure expired a year ago.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) couldn't properly defend the issue on the assembly floor and the question raised by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) MPA Fakhar Azam Wazir was referred to a special committee of the House.

The opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) staged walkout when Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, who was chairing the session, said the matter being sub-judice couldn't be discussed.

Fakhar Azam Wazir, the PPP MPA, during the question-hour, asked the Establishment Department why the KPEC had been running without a proper director general for two years. He said the contract of Acting Director General, Brig (R) Muhammad Sajjad expired on March 15 last year but he was still working on the post.

"As the tenure of the acting director general has expired, his position would be considered illegal," he said. He showed dissatisfaction over the written answer provided to the House. ANP parliamentary party leader Sardar Hussain Babak said that the PTI leadership and government were making tall claims about accountability and transparency, but the KPEC had become a puppet in the hands of rulers.

"The Ehtesab Commission lost credibility when it was used against political rivals by the government,” he claimed. He added that Ziaullah Afridi, who after expulsion from the PTI joined the PPP, was arrested and jailed in a case which he alleged was false and fabricated.

Former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi, who was elected on the PTI ticket from PK-1 Peshawar, said Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak had appointed his blue-eyed persons in the KPEC and the acting director general was a close relative of one of his KP Information Minister Shah Farman.

“As the Law Department had declared the position of acting director general illegal, therefore, he should be removed from his post. All the incentives and salaries he had received should be recovered from him,” demanded Ziaullah Afridi.

He also alleged that the Ehtesab Commission had been used against political rivals. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Imtiaz Shahid said that under the rules the acting director general had the same powers and responsibility as enjoyed by full-fledged director general.

The minister said the matter could not be discussed on the assembly floor as it was still in the court. However, the opposition benches protested and asked why a sub-judicious issue was put on the agenda of the session and then a written answer was given as well in the House.

After a heated debate and walk-out by opposition benches, the deputy speaker constituted a special committee of the House comprising all parliamentary party leaders and the mover of the question to discuss the issue in details. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was told that the Provincial Ehtesab Commission had received a total of 2,318 complaints whereas 27 had been referred to the courts to date.