PESHAWAR, Nov 18: Taking advantage of the absence of agriculture minister from the NWFP Assembly on Friday, both treasury and opposition members gave tough time to the government on issues concerning the farm sector, with most questions either kept pending for brief debate or referred to the house committee for agricultural affairs.
The absence of Qari Mahmood encouraged all MPAs hailing from Swat district to raise tricky questions, putting Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Malik Zafar Khan in a difficult position.
During the question hour, they alleged that for certain reasons the agriculture minister had chosen to stay away so that other cabinet ministers with little knowledge about his department could handle probing questions in his stead.
Mufti Hussain Ahmad, one of the MMA backbenchers, was most vocal who said that the appointment of only two persons to look after the Matta tea farm testified that either the government had no intention of encouraging tea plantation in the province or had kept secret the names of those it had appointed under its “backdoor policy”.
Bashir Ahmad Bilour of ANP and Abdul Akbar Khan of PPP Parliamentarians termed the “government policy of neglecting the role of manpower in tea plantation” a big joke. They supported the MMA lawmaker in his plea to refer the question to the relevant committee for examination.
Malik Zafar Azam said he would study lawmakers’ reservations and in the light of this exercise, they would be taken into confidence. On his repeated requests, the question was kept pending for Monday’s session.
Another question raised by Mufti Hussain Ahmad regarding “illegal appointment” in water management under rule 48 was approved for brief debate. He claimed that favouritism had been shown in the appointment. He won support of most members for his plea that the issue should be accepted for debate.
The MPA’s next question regarding appointment of class-4 employees was kept pending. He challenged the procedure of appointment and alleged that the minister concerned had shown favouritism.
He also alleged that the vacancies had not been advertised in local and national dailies.
With support from opposition, the Mufti succeeded in getting his question referred to the house committee on agriculture. In his question, he has cited alleged interest of agriculture minister in shifting tea plantation from the Matta area to Khwaza Khaila.
The acting speaker faced two protest walkouts when two MPAs Saeed Khan of PML-Q and Farid Khan of MMA sought to debate the status of the house business conducted on Friday and the stoppage of work on the Dir Road.
Soon after the start of Friday’s session, the Q-league MPA contended that according to rules, the assembly session could be held in six stipulated days, excluding Friday. He backed up his contention by citing certain rules.
He added that under the rules, the assembly session could be held from Saturday to Thursday, and stressed that unless amendments were made to those rules, it would be illegal to hold assembly session on Friday.
He also claimed that the status of Shariah and Hasba bills was questionable because they had been passed on Fridays.
MMA lawmaker Farid also staged a walkout with opposition when the speaker stopped him from discussing stoppage of work on Dir Road. The speaker said that the issue could not be discussed because it was sub judice.
