PESHAWAR:
The current Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly session has also become one of the longest.
This is the fifth longest session of the Assembly, which began on July 19, victim once again of the lack of interest of the legislators.
The lack of a quorum in the Assembly has become almost routine, with its sessions suspended three times for this reason.
Similarly, this session was also delayed by four to five hours more than planned due to the lack of interest shown by the members of the Provincial Assembly (AMP).
The leader of the House, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, only managed to attend 11 or 12 sessions of the Assembly, while the leader of the opposition, Dr Ibadullah, was absent from most of them.
Monday’s Assembly session was held under the chairmanship of Vice President Suriya Bibi. However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member Sobia Shahid pointed out the lack of quorum immediately after the recitation of the Holy Quran, following which the vice president ordered the bells to ring for two minutes.
The Secretary of the Assembly then counted the number of members present in the House. Only 27 people attended, after which the Speaker adjourned the meeting for a prayer break.
When the meeting resumed, the necessary number of members were not yet present to carry out the work of the Chamber.
The vice president then ordered the bells to be rung again. But even that did not result in the presence of the required number of House members.
As a result, the Assembly session was adjourned until Friday.
Sources told The Express PAkGazette that though the current Assembly session had begun on July 19, it was still ongoing.
Long breaks have been taken during this session and the Assembly has also completed its 100 days. Around 33 Assembly members have also been suspended for failing to submit their results to the Electoral Commission, which has also reduced the number of Assembly members.
Despite the lack of a quorum at times, some laws have been passed on the basis of “yes” and “no” votes, after which the opposition has protested without success.
Sources further said that late start of Assembly sessions had also become the norm. The session hours in winter are set from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and in summer from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., according to regulations.
The president can also change the assembly session time at his discretion. However, the other two rules are said to be ignored and sessions are held based solely on the will of the speaker.
Sources also claimed that the amendment to the assembly rules was made in respect of the Speaker at a time when the duties of police personnel in the province were mainly assigned to educational institutions at the peak of terrorism.
The Assembly rules were amended so that the Speaker could change the timing of Assembly sessions whenever he wanted due to a shortage of police personnel.
