KP Assembly speaker refers controversial legislation expanding lawmakers’ privileges to house committee for review

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati on Monday referred the controversial legislation seeking to expand lawmakers’ powers and privileges to the house’s standing committee for review.

In April, the provincial assembly passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licenses, blanket immunity from preventive detention and making the speaker’s permission necessary before arresting members on criminal charges.

The law faced harsh criticism from the media and the general public, prompting KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order a review of the legislation last week.

Moreover, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan had also announced that the government would withdraw the controversial clauses and restore them in accordance with the 1988 Act.

Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, the information minister said that the committee would re-examine the controversial clauses.

Jan said that the act had remained under discussion over the past several days, with concerns being raised by the journalist community, the general public and PTI workers regarding certain provisions.

He said that taking these concerns into consideration, CM Afridi had also convened a meeting of the provincial cabinet.

“Following consultations with the speaker of the provincial assembly, it was decided that the controversial clauses should be withdrawn for reconsideration,” he said.

Jan stated that, in line with the chief minister’s directives, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the assembly speaker, attended by parliamentary leaders of all political parties as well as the leader of the opposition.

He said that after hearing the views of all participants, the speaker directed that the disputed provisions be referred back to the Standing Committee on Privileges.

The information minister added that since the bill had originally been presented by the Standing Committee on Privileges, the committee would review the contentious provisions within one week and align them with the provisions of the 1988 Act.

“Members of the journalist community and the public will also be welcomed if they submit their recommendations,” he said.

The information minister added that most provisions of the new law were identical to those contained in the 1988 Act, with the exception of the clause relating to blue passports.

However, he clarified that the draft approved by the provincial cabinet did not contain any provision extending blue passport facilities to members’ children or spouses, or granting them as a lifetime entitlement.

He said the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa signed the bill on May 6 and that it was notified in the official Gazette on May 7, yet no objections were raised by any quarter at the time.

“The issue has been deliberately highlighted to divert attention from the case involving Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s grandson,” he claimed.

The information minister maintained that both the PTI and the provincial government had reservations over the slow pace of the investigation into the aforesaid incident and would not allow the matter to be brushed aside.

The provincial minister further stated that similar amendments had already been introduced in Sindh and Punjab but had not generated comparable public debate.

“Only 992 blue passports have been issued in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas approximately 56,000 have been issued across the country,” he stated, demanding that the complete facts and figures regarding blue passports be made public. ...