Worst rumpus was witnessed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly as legislators affiliated with Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Awami National Party (ANP) chanted slogans of ‘Go Imran Go’ against the ruling PTI.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly resumed the proceedings after a break of two days with Deputy Speaker Dr Meher Taj Roghani in the chair.
The house began proceedings with the question-hour round and several questions regarding the Department of Environment were disposed of. PPP’s Syed Sardar Hussain’s questions relating to the quota of district Chitral for the employees of Forest Department and issuance of forest harvesting permits was handed over to the concerning standing committee.
Later on, opposition and treasury were at loggerheads when PPP’s Sahibzada Sanaullah demanded inquiry into the irregularities in recruitment of Forest Department employees in Dir Upper and Dir Lower.
The PPP MPA complained that the minimum qualification required for applicants was F.Sc, but the provincial government in violation of merit had recruited matriculates.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) legislators on this occasion requested the chair to defer the questions till the presence of the concerning minister in the house. However, parliamentary secretary Fazal Elahi rejected the impression of the violation of merit and said that minimum required qualification was matric with science subjects so there was no violation of merit in the recruitment.
The mover of the question was demanding to refer the issue to the house standing committee on environment. However, QWP’s Begum Meraj Hamayun complained that most of the house committees are ineffective and redundant which did not hold regular meetings.
In addition to these remarks, she also pinpointed the lack of quorum in the house to which the Deputy Speaker directed the counting.
The pinpointing of the lack of quorum and absence of the PTI legislators from the house triggered protest by the angry legislators of PML-N and other opposition parties.
The PML-N legislators chanted slogans of ‘Go Imran Go’ and a rumpus was created in the house. The only PTI MPA Fazal Elahi was present at that moment and rest of the benches reserved for the PTI legislators were empty.
After counting and finding the lack of quorum, deputy speaker adjourned the proceedings of the house till 3:00PM on coming Tuesday.
