May 12, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

PESHAWAR, May 11: NWFP Assembly Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chaghermati, who is supposed to be custodian of the House, has allegedly exceeded his constitutional limits and started performing as de facto chief minister.

In background interviews officials said that speakers had to exercise his powers and functions within the ambit of the constitution, handle parliamentary matters but Mr Chaghermati was flying too high beyond the limits of his sky.

Since assuming office of the speaker on March 29, Mr Chaghermati has been getting briefings from the heads of different departments, both federal and provincial governments, on various matters which did not fall under his jurisdictions.

He had put his assembly staff on an additional job of spraying insecticides in various parts of his constituency, repair work in MPAs Hostel and other irrelevant activities. “Mr Speaker is very enthusiastic to get briefing from the officials of various departments, instead of focusing on matters related to his office,” said a government functionary.

Sources said that Mr Chaghermati had been advised time and again to refrain from irrelevant matters and restrict his powers and functions to the assembly secretariat, but he did not listen.

“Speaker’s authority is unmatched inside the boundary walls of the assembly secretariat,” said an official, adding that recently orders were issued to suspend staff of the fire brigade.

Mr Chaghermati, when approached, acknowledged that he was transgressing his constitutional ambit but being a political worker he could not close his doors for the people.

“My political rivals have started malicious propaganda against me but I don’t care about them,” he said, when asked that his entertainment allowance was sky rocketing since he assumed powers.

Well-placed sources said that entertainment expenditures of the speaker office were over Rs5,000 per day because of the large number of guests. The speaker’s chamber remained jam packed with guests from 9am to 4pm. The speaker, under the law was not entitled to include his house entertainment charges in the assembly budget but he was doing, they said.

They said that before taking oath the speaker gave dinner to the newly elected MPAs and officials in city’s five-star hotel and the bill paid by the assembly secretariat was Rs803,500. Before taking oath, they said, he was not authorised to draw the amount from the national exchequer.Information gathered from different sources revealed that secretariat had planned to set up library in the old hall of the assembly due to lack of space but the speaker ordered his staff to convert the place into guestroom. New furniture had been purchased for the speaker’s chamber.

According to Mr Chaghermati’s directives the proposed library has been shifted to the newly constructed committee room where standing committees’ meetings would be held. Sources said that expensive sound system had been purchased for the new committee room if the said portion was converted into library then sophisticated equipment would have no use in the long run.