Staff Reporter
Peshawar
Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday staged a protest as soon as they arrived in the Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa Assembly, continuing their demonstration for the fifth day and disrupting proceedings.
The opposition lawmakers were protesting against what they called was KP Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani’s “partial and indifferent attitude”. They stood up on their seats, chanted slogans, and banged their hands on the desks while the PPP’s Nighat Orakzai whistled to record her protest, despite Ghani asking her not to do so. Amid the chaos and tension, security staff surrounded the speaker’s dais.
In spite of the ongoing tensions, the assembly approved some of the proposed bills as opposition lawmakers continued slamming their desks.
The first day they protested, the opposition parties had called out Ghani’s “partial and indifferent attitude” while the treasury benches continued their assembly business and introduced several important bills and motions.
On the second day, as the opposition continued the protest and some lawmakers engaged in fist-fighting and used harsh words, the speaker passed the Land Acquisition Act for the newly-merged districts — tabled by Law Minister Sultan Muhammad Khan during the ear-deafening shouting from both sides of the House. On the third day, just after recitation from the Holy Quran, members from the joint opposition turned to the podium but the security staff surrounded the speaker’s dais to prevent any untoward incident. The protesting lawmakers chanted slogans of “atta chor, cheeni chor [flour thief, sugar thief!”.
Regardless, the speaker continued the proceedings according to the agenda and announced the lapse of the questions, as well as the adjournment and privilege motions. The call attention notices were disposed of amid the opposition’s shouting. On the fourth day, the opposition entered the House and turned to the podium when the last bill was put to a vote and started shouting “No, no”. They circled the speaker’s dais and chanted slogans against him but he continued the proceedings amid shouting and noise.
Some of the opposition members blew whistles and made noise.
