Opposition and treasury benches in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Tuesday joined hands with PTI legislator Amjad Afridi for release of funds in head of oil and gas royalty for his constituency. Amjad Afridi on the second consecutive continued his protest by blowing whistle to get the attention of the Deputy Speaker, Dr Meher Taj Roghani, who was chairing over the session.
The angry Afridi said that the provincial government had assured him on the floor of the house seven months ago that the funds would be released within a period of 10 days but did not happened. He vowed to continue his protest till the acceptance of his demand.
Advisor to Chief Minister for Prisons, Malik Qasim, who also belongs to gas producing district Karak of the Kohat Division also stood up in support of Amjad Afridi and said that they had raised the problem on the floor of the house, but, they were ignored.
Responding to the demands of the two treasury benches legislators, the Provincial Minister for Information Shah Farman also expressed sympathies with them and said that development funds are the rights of all members of the house. He assured that the issue would be taken with the chief minister and other quarters concerned.
Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said also assured Amjad Afridi and sought a time of only three days to discuss the matter with the chief minister and resolve it. He announced the constitution of a parliamentary committee comprising representatives from both treasury and opposition benches to resolve the issue amicably.
In the meanwhile, the ANP firebrand Sardar Hussain Babak also took the floor and accused the chair of partisan role by favouring treasury benches in different manners and ignoring the opposition. He was critical of treasury members for reading poetries, while the opposition was not allowed to raise the problems of their constituencies. He went on to say for bringing PTI flag-hosting cap for Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha of PPP, Mufti Said Janan of JUI-F and another treasury benches member Muhammad Shakil also supported Amjad Afridi and complained of their ignoring by the government in royalty in head of net-hydel profit and gas.
Advisor to Chief Minister, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani also attempted to pacify the protesting Amjad Afridi and said that every member has constitutional right to raise the problem on the floor of the House but no one should be given the right to paralyze the proceedings of the house. However, he said that the resolution of issue in a few minutes is impossible. He said that a member who did not respect the House should be expelled.
It is pertinent to mention here that Amjad Afridi, a former Advisor to the chief minister adopted a unique method of protest and blown whistle to record his protest against PTI-led coalition government for not releasing funds in head of oil and gas royalty.
Comments
Comments are closed.