PESHAWAR: Member of the opposition Awami National Party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mohammad Nisar Baaz on Thursday claimed that the security establishment benefitted from divisions among political parties that allowed it to “disgrace” parliament.

He made these remarks during a session in response to criticism of ANP leadership by lawmaker of the ruling PTI Shafiullah Jan.

On Wednesday, Mr Jan had alleged that ANP leaders had sold votes in exchange for support on the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

He also accused the establishment of facilitating the election of ANP leader Aimal Wali Khan as a senator from the Balochistan province.

During Thursday’s session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Mr Baaz condemned those allegations against his party’s leadership and said parliamentarians could criticise rivals but had no right to humiliate them.

Flays govt over failure to ensure presence of detained members in house

“Our leadership spent years in prison for the sake of democracy and civilian supremacy in the country,” he said.

The ANP lawmaker said that the establishment was responsible for military offensives in the province.

He also said the country’s both external and internal policies were formulated by the establishment but his party couldn’t be forced intobacking off from its narrative.

“We will continue advocating for peace and supremacy of parliament,” he said.

Mr Baaz criticised the provincial government over “failure” to ensure the presence of two treasury members, detained in Punjab, in the house despite the issuance of production orders for them.

“You [KP government] lack the courage, so you have failed to question the humiliation of KP House in Islamabad,” he said.

The ANP leader also pointed out that MPAs didn’t take the house’s business seriously as only 19 out of 120 members were in attendance.

He said the people sent him and others to the assembly to legislate and resolve their issues, but most lawmakers absented themselves from sittings.

Earlier, agriculture minister Mohammad Sajjad informed the house that 16 districts had been identified for saffron cultivation, which could turn around the province’s financial condition.

He said though saffron was a new crop, the government had launched a three-year Rs500 million project for it while designating over 93 acres of land.

The minister claimed that several countries were reluctant to send seeds to Pakistan and once the crop was developed and promoted, it would help the province financially.

Earlier, PPP member Ahmad Karim Kundi asked the government about its priorities regarding saffron cultivation after successful experiments in the province.

During the question hour, member of the opposition JUI-F Rehana Ismail wondered if Rs2.27 billion funds were available with the social welfare department to rehabilitate special persons, why the money was un-utilised.

Social welfare minister Qasim Ali Shah blamed the caretaker government for the issue and said the department had been planning to set up businesses for people with disabilities.

The house adopted a resolution from member of the opposition PML-N Sobia Shahid, seeking the establishment of an office for apostille attestation and verification.

She said though the Foreign Office had set up a camp office in Peshawar, the walk-in customer facility was not available in the province unlike other provinces.

The house passed the KP Services Tribunal Amendment Bill, 2024, which was tabled by law and parliamentary affairs minister Aftab Alam Afridi.

It also passed the KP Prisons Amendment Bill, 2024, introduced by special assistant to the chief minister for prisons Humayun Khan.

The lawmakers later adopted a resolution for holding a sitting of the assembly on Sunday for passing a resolution to express solidarity with the people of the India-held Kashmir.

The chair adjourned the sitting until next Sunday.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024