PESHAWAR: Irritated by the frequent absence of the cabinet members and senior officers from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s proceedings, Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Monday directed the staff members to formally inform the prime minister and provincial chief secretary about it on a daily basis.

The chair issued the directives when the opposition lawmakers complained about the incomplete replies to the members’ questions.

The opposition members regretted that senior officers didn’t take the assembly’s business seriously and that usually, subordinate staff members of the relevant departments wrote replies to questions put up by members.

They also expressed concern about the absence of ministers and advisers from the proceedings.

Speaker Ghani directed the assembly staff to send the list of the absentee cabinet members to Prime Minister Imran Khan on a daily basis.

He asked ministers to ensure their presence in the house.

Rules chief secy will be informed about officials skipping session

“The list of ministers, who do not attend the sitting, will be sent to the prime minister daily,” he ruled.

The speaker said the ministers were bound by the rules to send leave applications to the assembly’s secretariat when the house was in session.

The absence of ministers from the house has become recurring issue forcing the speaker to bring the issue to the notice of the prime minister. Most cabinet members don’t even seek the house’s permission for leave. The ministers except few do not show interest in the assembly business.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, who holds 21 of the total of 34 portfolios, is struggling to give time to the assembly due to his other official engagements. He often remains absent from the house’s proceedings prompting the law minister to respond to questions in his absence.

Mr Ghani said under the assembly’s rules of business, the ministers would also sign their names on the house’s attendance register like other members.

He also issued directives for the sending of the list of absentee officers to the chief secretary.

The chair said the additional secretaries would represent their respective departments in the house, while the presence of officers under the position of additional secretary would not be accepted.

On a lighter note, law and parliamentary affairs minister Barrister Sultan Mohammad Khan asked the chair to send the list of ministers regularly attending the proceedings to the prime minister.

“Mr Speaker, the prime minister should also know that how is regularly attending session,” he said, adding that the cabinet was collectively responsible for responding to questions in the house.

The plight of Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia also reverberated in the session.

The house asked the federal government through two resolutions to address the problems of Pakistani workers in the Gulf.

Inayatullah Khan of the MMA and Sahibzada Sanaullah of the PPP tabled two identical resolutions.

They said 1.5 million of the total of 2.5 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia belonged to Malakand division and that they were harassed, while thousands languished in prisons.

The resolutions urged the prime minister to take up the ‘serious issue’ with the Saudi authorities for resolution.

Through another resolution, the assembly asked the federal government to direct the National Database and Registration Authority to unblock the computerised national identity cards of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It also passed a resolution demanding of the federal government to issue the ‘blue passport’ to the members of KP Assembly for lifetime.

Earlier, ANP MPA-elect from PK-71 Salahuddin Momand took the oath.

PTI MPA Shah Farman had vacated that seat after assuming the charge of the governor.

The paper leak before the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency entry test for medical colleges again came under discussion in the house as the lawmakers moved two adjournment motions in that respect.

Speaker Ghani ordered the formation of a parliamentary committee to discuss the structure and functions of the agency.

The house also empowered the chair to appoint the chairmen of the standing committees.

Published in Dawn, October 30th , 2018