PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati has referred a recently-enacted law to expand the provincial lawmakers’ privileges to the house’s relevant standing committee for review.
In April, the assembly had passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licences and blanket immunity from preventive detention, and making the speaker’s permission necessary for the arrest of members on criminal charges.
The law faced harsh criticism from the media and people, prompting Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order on Wednesday a review of the law.
Addressing a news conference here, minister for information and public relations Shafi Jan said that the committee would re-examine the controversial clauses for the restoration of the previous ones in accordance with the 1988 Act.
He said that the law remained under discussion for several days, with journalists, PTI workers and other people raising objections regarding certain provisions.
The minister said that taking those concerns into consideration, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi convened a meeting of the provincial cabinet.
“Following consultations with the speaker of the provincial assembly, it was decided that the controversial clauses should be withdrawn for reconsideration,” he said.
Mr Jan said that in line with the chief minister’s directives, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the speaker of the provincial assembly, with parliamentary leaders of all political parties as well as the leader of the opposition being in attendance.
He said that after hearing the views of all participants, the speaker directed the referring of the disputed provisions back to the house’s standing committee on privileges.
“The committee will review the contentious provisions within a week and
align them with the provisions of the 1988 Act,” he said.
The minister said that the journalist community and the public could also submit recommendations.
He said that most provisions of the new law were identical to those contained in the 1988 Act, with the exception of the clause relating to blue passports.
Mr Jan, however, said that the draft approved by the provincial cabinet didn’t contain any provision about blue passports for the lawmakers’ children and spouses or as a lifetime entitlement.
He said the provincial governor signed the privileges bill on May 6, while it was notified in the official gazette on May 7 but no objections were raised by any quarter at that time.
The minister claimed that the issue was deliberately highlighted to divert attention from the Lahore abduction case involving Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s grandson.
He said that both the ruling PTI and the provincial government had reservations about the slow pace of the investigation into the case and would not allow the matter to be brushed aside.
Mr Jan said that similar amendments had already been introduced in Sindh and Punjab but had not generated comparable public debate.
He added that only 992 blue passports had been issued for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas around 56,000 had been issued across the country.
The minister said that “complete facts and figures” regarding blue passports should be made public.
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026