PESHAWAR, June 11: Members of the NWFP Assembly belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Wednesday took a strong notice of the remarks made by President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday against the NWFP government and termed it an interference in the provincial autonomy.

Making a policy statement, minister for law and  parliamentary affairs Malik Zafar Azam said that the NWFP government  had not forced anybody to sport a beard or replace trouser-shirt with shalwar-qameez. It all was aimed at maligning the MMA-led provincial government, he added.

Deputy  speaker Irkamullah Shahid, who was presiding over  the session, allowed the minister to make his statement.

On his request, the MMA lawmakers observed a two-minute protest by rising from their benches against the president’s remarks. “We  have been threatened with an extreme action for tampering with the local government system”, he added.

He said how one could sacrifice a constitutional forum for an unconstitutional one. The MMA would prove its surefootedness when it came to the crunch, Malik Azam observed.

On the occasion, members of the three opposition groups, Awami National Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and Pakistan  People’s Party (Sherpao) jointly walked out of the house.

Mushtaq Ghani of the PML (Q) was of the view that the minister could not make speech on a point of order, but the speaker  asked him to hear the minister. The opposition MPAs, except the PML (N) and PPP, walked out in protest.

Later,  minister for law and parliamentary affairs tabled  the North-West Frontier (Salaries and Allowance of Members) Amendment Bill, 2003 in the house for passage of accommodation allowance.

Abdul Akbar Khan of the PPP opposed the bill and termed it not in line with the procedure. He asked the government to bring a fresh bill  and redetermine the salaries and allowances for the  MPAs. It  was  not  fair  to deprive the NWFP  MPAs  from  the  genuine emoluments, he added.

“We demand that the lowest salaries and allowance may be fixed for the NWFP members. Even the Balochistan MPAs are getting  more than the NWFP MPAs,” he added.

But, the house passed the bill with majority.

The minister for law and parliamentary affairs also introduced the Code of Civil Procedures (Amendment) Bill in the house.

Speaking  on his privilege motion, MPA Kashif Azam lashed  out at  the Town Council-III administration for  its  non-cooperative attitude towards the residents of University Town. The  residents were without any drinking water for the last several days and the Town-III administration was not paying any heed to their problem, he added.

Minister for local government, Sardar Mohammad Idrees informed the house that the Town Councils had wounded up one working shift of the tube well operators and introduced two day-night shifts of 12 hours. He said it was against the labour laws to introduce the 12 hours working shift and deprive the workers of the rights. The tube well operators had slowed down the work, which resulted into the water scarcity in some city areas, he added.

He said the government had taken the notice of the situation. Later, he withdrew back his privilege motion.

Speaking on his adjournment motion, Mushtaq Ghani informed the house that the Auqaf department had made a 20 per cent  increase in the rent of its shops located in Abbottabad. The Auqaf mangers used to increase the rent every year, while other departments  in the city announced 13 per cent increase after every three  years, he said.

He  said Abbottabad was a seasonal city and shopkeepers  could not afford the 20 per cent increase in the rent every year.

As the concerned minister was not present, the chair  deferred the motion to be taken up again for discussion on Thursday.

Speaking on her call attention notice, MPA Naeema Akhtar  drew the attention of the house towards the plight of the students  of private schools, which charged them of two months’ tuition fee and transport charges for the summer vacations.

MPAs Nasreen Khattak, Rifat Akbar Swati and Maulana  Amanullah Haqqani supported the stand of the mover and urged the government to order the owners of private schools not to charge fees for the closed period.

Minister  for excise and taxation, on behalf of  minister  for education, supported the private school owners for their share in the literacy ratio.

Maulana Haqqani expressed his wonder over the attitude of  the minister  and  said it seemed that excise  minister  himself  was running a private school.