PESHAWAR, Oct 31: The opposition on Monday staged a token walkout from the NWFP Assembly against the government over its failure to issue a notification for declaring the quake-battered districts as calamity-hit areas.

Minister for Information Asif Iqbal assured the house a second time that a notification would be issued within two days to declare the quake-hit districts as calamity-stricken. He said the government had been busy with relief activities in districts devastated by the earthquake due to which the notification was delayed.

But the opposition did not accept the explanation and said why the government had been delaying such an important notification.

Abdul Akbar of People’s Party Parliamentarians asked why the government was giving two to three days for issuance of a notification and in reaction all the opposition members staged a walkout. One PML member Saeed Khan did not join the protesting MPAs.

After some time, they came back when no minister went out to bring them back to the house.

Talking to reporters, they complained against the speaker, saying he had violated the norms of NWFP assembly as he did not send any member of the treasury benches to bring opposition back.

Leader of the opposition Shazada Gastasip said they could not understand the logic behind the delay in the issuance of the notification. —PPI