Ali Sheikh
PESHAWAR: Amid ruckus and uproar 116 newly elected members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly took oath on Wednesday. Speaker KP Assembly Mushtaq Ghani administered the oath.
The session which was supposed to start at 11 am started with an hour delay after large number of PTI workers sitting in visitors gallery chanted slogans against the opposition members calling them ‘mandate thief.’ On the other hand, PML-N MPA Sobia Khan held a watch in her hand showing it to the PTI workers to symbolize the Imran Khan’s alleged selling of watch from Toshakhana. This created some unwanted scenes as workers threw water bottle and lota on Sobia Khan. Later Speaker Mushtaq Ghani warned the PTI workers and directed them to remain silent.
It is pertinent to mention here that the KP Assembly resumed its proceedings after an unprecedented more than 13 months. The previous assembly was disscolved in January 2023 and KP had been functioning in the absence of the provincial legislature since then. The House also offered Fateha for father of Ali Amin Gandapur and other martyrs of security forces.
The election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly would be held on Thursday, February 29 while the election of the Chief Minister would be held on the following day. Ali Amin Gandapur who has been nominated as KP Chief Minister by PTI also took oath. He was warmly welcomed by the newly elected members and the workers of PTI as he entered the assembly with a PTI flag draped across his shoulders.
Speaker Mushtaq Ghani also annonced that polling for the speaker and deputy speaker will be held today (Thursday) at 10am. The session of the assembly was adjourned to meet on Thursday 10 am.
APP adds: Before taking the oath, the newly elected members of the provincial assembly chanted slogans against each other and threw shoes and pitchers on opposition benches. The Speaker took notice of the slogans of PTI workers in the house and directed them to remain silent. The house offered Fateha for father of Ali Amin Gandapur and other martyrs of security forces.
Special arrangements including multimedia screens were installed inside and outside of the assembly hall for special guests and party members. The internet service was closed in the assembly premises due to security reasons as more than 4000 guests visited Assembly. Despite strict security measures, workers of political parties managed to enter the assembly hall. The election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly would be held on Thursday, February 29 while the election of the Chief Minister would be held on the following day.
Later talking to media outside Assembly Hall, Dr Ibadullah leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) criticized the uproar and said that the opposition parties have unanimously decided to nominate Ehsanullah Miankhel for the slot of Speaker, and Arbab Wasim of PTI Parliamentarian has been nominated for the Deputy Speaker post in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Similarly, opposition parties have filed the name Hisham Inamullah Khan PML-N for Chief Minister, and Dr. Ibad of PML-N will be the opposition leader in the KP Assembly. He said that we offer JUI-F to support them as Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Akram Khan Durrani have a good political role in the country. JUI-F leader and former opposition leader in KP Assembly Akram Khan Durrani talking to media outside the Assembly Hall, said that his party members would not take part in election of speaker and deputy speaker as well as chief minister of the provincial assembly.
Akram Durrani said the party would sit in the opposition in National and provincial assemblies, adding that JUI-F would not be the part of any strategy of the PML-N and PPP. Criticizing the situation during the oath taking in the assembly here, he said that for the first time in the province, there was an unprecedented situation. Despite political and ideological differences in the past, there was respect for others which was not seen on the first day of the assembly proceeding.
“Today, the assembly was presenting the picture of bus stand or a market,” he deplored. He said the house was disrespected as much so that no one could even think of coming to assembly. Durrani predicted more chaos and unrest in the province in the coming day, adding that the caretaker Chief Minister informed a week ago that there was no money in the provincial kitty even for payment of salaries at the time of his swearing-in ceremony. Currently, the province has only 100 billion rupees and the people would face inflation in coming days, said Akram Durrani.
He said that the results of the general elections was unacceptable to JUI-F and the party leadership has decided to protest against the results inside and outside the assemblies. “I have the video of stamping the ballot papers of the candidate against me,” he told media. Durrani said that JUI-F has taken two main decisions; first not to become part of the government and second, that if religious parties are kept out of the elections, the party would stage countrywide protests.
The results of two MPAs Abdul Munim and Laiq Muhammad Khan of Sunni Ittehad Council were not issued by the Election Commission. 21 women seats and four seats of minorities are remain vacant. 91 members of Sunni Ittehad Council, 7 members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), 5 members of Pakistan Muslim League, 4 members of Pakistan People Party, 2 members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians, one member of Awami National Party and one members of Wehdat-ul-Muslamin took oath. Two women members of JUI, two of PML-N and one member of PPP took oath on reserved seats and the remaining 21 seats would remain vacant.
Ali Amin Khan Gandapur and Babar Salim Khan were nominated for slots of CM and Speaker while newly elected member from Chitral PK-I Suraya Bibi would likely to be nominated as Deputy Speaker. Around 67 winning candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa out the total 111 notified from Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to become Members Provincial Assembly (MPAs) for the first time. According to data released by ECP KP, these 67 new MPAs belong from 13 districts of the province. While 47 winning candidates have remained MPAs in previous terms.
Among the newly elected members who took oath, Ali Hadi is the youngest parliamentarian that won the provincial assembly seat in recent elections. Ali Hadi who won elections from PK 96 district Kurram is of 27 years and the youngest member of KP assembly. He took oath as an independent in first session of newly elected assembly. At present, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Speaker KP assembly is the senior most member of provincial legislature having age of 68 years.
