KP Assembly speaker suspends MPA’s membership for one day

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani sent Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) from South Waziristan Hasamuddin out of the House and ruled suspending his membership for a day.

The assembly passed a resolution with majority condemning the threatening words the lawmaker had used on the floor of the House on August 25. Giving his ruling, the speaker said that Hasamuddin deserved condemnation for threatening to blow up the assembly. He said nobody should be allowed to use such words. He said the entire House condemned the use of threatening words against the security agencies. Utilizing his discretionary powers, the speaker ruled the MPA be taken out of the House for the remaining session of the day. The joint opposition except for the Awami National Party (ANP) protested the resolution and the speaker’s action, saying after an apology from the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) parliamentary leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman and without giving a chance to the MPA in question to clarify his position the action was an injustice.

The JUI members also staged a boycott from the House as a protest. Earlier, Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai raised the issue and demanded suspension of the MPA while Ziaullah Bangash moved the condemnation resolution, signed by Shaukat Yousafzai and Sardar Hussain Babak of the ANP. JUI parliamentary leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman tendered an apology on the floor of the House and said the words used by his party MPA were not suitable and he condemned the use of such words. However, he said it should be known that why an elected public representative was forced to utter such words.

He said the member had suffered the in militancy as his father, who was a Member National Assembly (MNA), was martyred in targeted killing. “The JUI has a clear stance against militancy and terrorism,” he noted, adding that his party believed in democracy and Constitution. “We rendered great sacrifices in the war on terror and even our party chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman and other leaders were targeted and attacked multiple times,” he added.

He said the MPA became emotional after getting disappointed with the government and relevant quarters, who did not listen to his grievances. He said that the MPA had raised the issue of landmines in his constituency. “If an elected member is treated in such a way then what would be the plight of ordinary people who have suffered due to militancy for decades,” he argued. Expulsion of an MPA from the House, who was even seeking an apology for his words, was unjustified, he said, adding in the past Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and leaders attacked the Parliament House and Pakistan Television but no resolution was adopted to condemn the act. Ahmad Kundi and Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also condemned the words but opposed the resolution and speaker’s ruling, saying after seeking apology by the JUI parliamentary leader the move was unjustified. However, ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Babak supported and signed the resolution, saying his party had a stance against militancy and rendered great sacrifices in the war against terror.

He said there should be action against those using such words and having this type of mindset. MPA Mir Kalam Khan from North Waziristan said that Hasamuddin was sent out of the House because he had registered a complaint and raised the issue of landmines in his area. More than 200 tribal elders have been martyred in targeting killing and the murderer of not a single elder was arrested though the tribal people know the ‘unknown’ killers, he added. A resolution was passed against the MPA from ex-Fata who talked about the rights of his people, but no resolution was adopted against the PTI for attacking the parliament and PTV, he went on to say. Mir Kalam said he was attacked last night and escaped narrowly though he had no enmity. He said tribesmen would not live like to be slaves and they were not afraid of attacks and murder attempts. “Our voice for rights of the deprived people cannot be suppressed through such tactics,” he declared. In his reply, Shaukat Yousafzai said that peace had been restored due to the sacrifices of the people and the security forces.

He said that tribal areas were merged with the province to remove the sense of deprivation among the tribal people.