PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its coalition partners backtracked on their statements to table a resolution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly against the US drone strikes in tribal areas as the budget session was prorogued on Wednesday.
PTI and its allies, including Jamaat-i-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan, had submitted a joint resolution against the drone attacks to the assembly secretariat before the start of the budget session.
The resolution stated that drone strikes inside Pakistan territory were in violation of sovereignty of the country, international law and demanded of the federal government to take necessary measures to halt these attacks and that civilians were killed in those strikes.
The treasury tried to table the resolution in the assembly on Monday last delayed it at the eleventh hour when Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl MPA Mufti Said Janan also brought a resolution on the issue.
The JUI-F member wanted to link supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan via Pakistan with the end to the US drone strikes.
However, the partners of the ruling coalition didn’t agree.
It was later decided that a joint resolution would be tabled in the House on Tuesday but that didn’t happen due to the government’s disinterest.
Mufti Janan said before the resumption of the sitting on Wednesday, law minister Israrullah Khan Gandapur had assured him that the said resolution would be tabled in the House, but the assurance turned out to be false.
Senior minister Sirajul Haq of Jamaat-i-Islami, architecture of the government-sponsored resolution, was absent from the session.
The government tactfully handled the opposition and Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, who was presiding over the session, read the prorogation order.
Earlier, the assembly was informed that the provincial government had recently relieved over 400 project employees from the Livestock Directorate and Environmental Protection Agency.
On a point of order, Pakistan People’s Party MPA Nighat Yasmin Orakzai said the services of 400 veterinary assistants and watchmen had been terminated.
She said those employees, who were appointed in different districts of the province, were demonstrating for their restoration.
MPA Munawar Khan of JUI-F suggested that the matter be referred to the relevant committee of the provincial assembly for a decision.
On a point of order, MPA Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha said 27 employees working in monitoring and evaluation wing of EPA had been relieved from the job.
He said terminated employees were recruited around a year ago and their statement of new expenditure had been pending with the finance department.
He said the sacked employees were doing jobs in Dera Ismail Khan, Swat and Abbottabad districts.
He demanded restoration and regularisation of terminated employees.
Minister for Works and Services Yousuf Ayub said 400 workers terminated from livestock directorate were project-based employees and were appointed for a specific period.
He said after completion of the project, its employees were also relieved.
The minister said the case of the terminated employees would be reviewed and the government would accommodate them in other departments if possible.
Responding to another point of order, he said the chief minister had directed all deputy commissioners and departments concerned to remove encroachments from graveyards in Mansehra and other districts.
The House later passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Services Tribunal (Amendment) Act, 2013.