PESHAWAR: The joint opposition on Wednesday requisitioned the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session to discuss multiple issues including situation in the India-held Kashmir and development schemes in the newly merged tribal districts.

MPAs-elect from tribal districts will also take oath once the session is convened. Election on 16 general seats in seven tribal districts and seven sub-divisions was held on July 20.

The ruling PTI, which secured 10 seats in the election including three reserved seats for women and religious minorities, was not willing to summon the assembly session in August.

Information Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai had told Dawn on Monday that the government would not summon session of the assembly specifically for the oath taking of MPAs-elect. Twenty-one MPAs-elect are likely to take oath during the coming session.

MPAs-elect from merged districts will take oath once the session is convened

A senior official in the assembly secretariat told Dawn that MPAs-elect would be administered oath once the session was summoned. He said that under the Constitution, the government was bound to summon the session within 14 days after submitting requisition by the opposition.

ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak submitted the requisition notice, which carried signatures of 36 MPAs of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal, PML-N, PPP and one independent member.

The requisition notice also carried 16-point agenda which included discussion on price hike, electricity loadshedding, low voltage, net hydel profit, situation in India-held Kashmir, development programme in merged districts, upcoming local government elections, Bus Rapid Transit Peshawar, Billion Tree Tsunami project, reported cases of dengue from different areas of the province, shortage of anti-venom vaccines and flood damage.

This is worth mentioning that the assembly held detail discussion on BRT, tree plantation project and NFC during its previous session. However, discussion on these issues remained fruitless.

Meanwhile, Sardar Hussain Babak submitted calling attention notice to the assembly secretariat regarding depriving his constituency (PK-22 Bunner-III) of the beautification project. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, he said that the provincial government had allocated Rs1 billion for the beautification of Bunner district that was a positive step.

However, his constituency had been ignored in the project, said the statement. It said that Mr Babak, representing the people of PK-22 in the assembly, would raise voice for the rights of the area. It said that allocation of funds on political ground would be resisted at all legal forums.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2019