PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Assembly Procedures

Objectives of the Provincial Assembly

Before explaining the functions of the provincial assembly in detail, it would help to understand the broad objectives of the provincial assembly, which are given below as bulleted points.

  • Election of the Chief Minister of the Province
  • The Provincial Government is responsible and accountable to the public as well as their representatives
  • To provide legal authority to the provincial Government for keeping order and peace in the country
  • As keeper of the Provincial Consolidated Fund and to authorize expenditure from the fund and approval of the annual and supplementary budget
  • To examine and scrutinize the accounts maintained by the Provincial Government and to supervise various branches of the Government through various Committees and Sub-Committees of the House.
  • To maintain an independent Assembly Secretariat for effective ministerial assistance and to keep accounts on behalf of the House, including the expenditure on the secretariat as a constitutional obligation

 

Role & Functions of the Provincial Assembly

The main functions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly are described below.

1. To make laws.

The Provincial Assembly shall have the power to make laws for the Province with respect to criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence and any matter not enumerated in the Federal Legislative List. [Article 142]

The Provincial Assembly cannot, however, make any law:

  • Which is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah
  • Which is repugnant to any provision of the Constitution
  • The Provincial Assembly cannot legislate when an emergency is declared in the country.
  • The Provincial Assembly cannot make laws which are against the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country
  • which is not in consonance with the Principles of Policy
  • which is inconsistent with a federal law

2. Oversight / The Manager of the purse of the nation.

Expenditure can only take place from the Provincial Consolidated Fund if it is  authorized by the Provincial Assembly. Provincial Assembly exercises checks over the executive through control over the Finance. Under the Rules of Procedure 1988, various oversight tools are provided to obtain information about the working, overseeing and making recommendations on general public matters of the Government departments. The oversight tools include Call Attention Notices, Assembly Questions, Adjournment Motions & Resolutions.

3. Approval of Budgets.

The Provincial Assembly has the power to approve or refuse any demand in the budget and to reduce the amount specified in the demand. Once the budget is approved, the Government does not have the right to deviate from these sanctions. For excess expenditure the Government has to seek regularization from the Assembly. Audit reports of the Government are further scrutinized by the public accounts Committee of the Assembly.

Note that the Provincial Assembly is also a representative institution of the voice of the public and keeps checks upon policies, practices and performance of the Government acting as an oversight body.

4. Representation 

It is all about raising the public concern issues through :

  • Call Attention Notices,
  • Assembly Questions,
  • Adjournment Motions
  • Resolutions

 

Proceedings

At the first sitting of the Assembly after a general election, the members take an oath before the Assembly. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker preside over the meeting but if he/she is not present then the Governor may nominate from amongst the Members of the Assembly, a Chairman who presides over the session. After the Speaker has been elected by a majority vote, he/she takes on his /her role as an impartial arbiter of all proceedings.

Commencement of a session

  • The Speaker nominates from amongst the Members a panel of not more than four Chairmen, and decides the order of precedence in which order they are to preside during the session only in the absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
  • If at any sitting of the Assembly, the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and all Chairmen are absent, the Secretary informs the Assembly accordingly, consequently the Assembly elects one of its Members that are present to presiding over the session.

A member may give notice in writing to the Secretary to move a resolution seeking a vote of confidence for the Chief Minister. The Secretary circulates the notice to all the Members and the Chief Minister then signs a statement that he/she has consented to move a resolution. The resolution may be taken on any day including a holiday or a non-official day. The Speaker then informs the Governor of the result of the vote.

  • A notice may be given to the Speaker to move a resolution for a vote of no confidence against the Chief Minister,
  • If the resolution is in order it shall be moved by a member, from amongst the members who have signed the resolution;
  • Provided that the voting on the resolution shall be held not less than three days and not more than seven days from the date of its introduction in the Assembly.
  • If the resolution is passed the Speaker will forward a copy of it to the Governor.

Number of Sessions and Order of Business

There are four sessions of the Assembly every year. Every session begins with a recitation from the Holy Quran. The Speaker has the authority to suspend or hold another session if the points of discussion have not been adequately debated or if the matter is decided upon earlier than expected. The Secretary arranges government business to take place in the following order:

    • Bills to be introduced;
    • Resolutions;
    • Bills already introduced

The order of priority for the introduction of Private Bills is determined by ballot. Bills already introduced are be taken up in the following order:

    • Bills for which the next stage is that the Bill be passed;
    • Bills for which a motion has been carried that the Bill as reported by the Standing or Select Committee be taken into consideration;
    • Bills for which the report of the Standing or Select Committee has been presented;
    • Bills for which the report of a Standing Committee or Select Committee is to be presented;
    • Bills circulated for eliciting public opinion

The precedence of private resolutions is determined by ballot. A resolution not drawn in a ballot is be included in subsequent ballots in the same session of the Assembly. The Secretary prepares a List of Business for each working day for the Members.

 

Legislation

The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the power to initiate, pass and amend bills of law. However, a Bill that aims to amend the Constitution, cannot be presented to the President of Pakistan for assent unless it is passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly and voted on by not less than two thirds of its total membership. Constitutional power for introduction and passing of money bills including the annual budget statement has been provided to the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the power to initiate and pass a motion for the passing the vote of no- confidence against the Chief Minister of the province (only if the majority of the members voting are in favor of the vote of no confidence).

Bills

A proposal for law making must reach the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly in the form of a Bill. Bills are of three kinds:

    • Government Bills – introduced by ministers
    • Private Member Bills – introduced by any Member
    • Ordinances – proclaimed by the Governor when the Provincial Assembly is in recess, which are then introduced in the Provincial Assembly. The Assembly may then approve or endorse or reject it and sent to Governor for assent.

Every Bill goes through three stages:

  • The first reading stage is a formal stage in which a general discussion on the Bill may take place. However, at this stage a Member may also give notice of moving an amendment.
  • At the second reading stage the general principles of the Bill are debated; though a rejection is possible, but rejections are not common in the case of Government Bills.
  • At the third stage, the Bill may be sent to one of the several Standing Committees, by the Speaker, who may hear from Ministers, experts, and debate the Bills, as well as recommend amendments in the Bill. The Standing Committee may even re-write a Bill from scratch.

If a Standing Committee has not proposed any amendment in the Report, the Bill is passed on to the third reading. If amendments are recommended by the Standing committee to a Bill, then they require the assent of the House.

Once a Bill is passed in the House, with or without the amendments, it is sent to the Governor, who has three options within 10 days: he/she can grant assent (convert the Bill into an Act or Law); withhold assent (veto the Bill) with the exception of a money Bill; or return the Bill to the Parliament for reconsideration.

When the Bill has been returned to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly, it shall be reconsidered by the Assembly and if it is again passed with or without any amendment by the Provincial Assembly through the votes of the majority of the members of the Provincial Assembly present and voting, it shall again be presented to the governor for assent and the governor shall not withhold assent after that.

A Bill pending in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shall lapse on the dissolution of the Assembly.

 

The Budget

Discussions on the Budget take place by the Assembly in the following stages:

  • A general discussion on the Budget as a whole;
  • A discussion on expenditure charged upon the Provincial Consolidated Fund;
  • A discussion on demands for grants;
  • Voting on demands for grants.

A general discussion on the Budget shall last for not more than four days, provided that not more than one day shall intervene between the presentation of the Budget and the commencement of the general discussion.

 

Committees

The Assembly will, during its first Session after the general election, elect Standing Committees for the duration of the Assembly. Each Committee will be representative of every department of the Government, for example there will be a Standing Committee for Food, one for Agriculture, one for Finance and so on. The Standing Committees shall examine legislative proposals with the best interests of their respective departments in mind. They will also follow the Rules of Procedure of Standing Committees meticulously.

  • Each Standing Committee shall consist of seven members to be elected by the Assembly and the Minister concerned as member ex officio.
  • A Committee shall examine a Bill or any matter referred to it by the Speaker or the Assembly and submit a report to the Assembly with its recommendations within the specified period or the period extended by the Assembly

Function

The function of Committees is primarily to, a) support Parliament in its role in holding the government accountable for its actions, b) scrutinize all decisions of the Government, taking into account the needs of the public and, c) to support Ministers in carrying out their responsibilities and improve their management performance, not only as oversight bodies that participate in making policies at the highest levels, but also as representative of the different political parties so that there is a fair and just consideration of those policies.

 

Members of the Assembly

  1. Qualification and disqualification of members:
    Disqualification can take place on grounds of defection, and was added in the Constitution in 1997.
  2. Privileges of members:
    Members of the Provincial Assembly are free to voice their opinions. No member can be held accountable for any view expressed or any statement made during Assembly proceedings in any court of law.