PESHAWAR, Oct 10: Astonishingly, a majority of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly members often seems at loss to figure out what makes them stand up in the house and how to start speaking.

The 94-page green book considered `sacred` for the members, which contains 251 rules regarding maintenance of decorum, conduct of the members and procedures for the assembly`s business, is hardly followed.

Sadly enough, the situation is a free-for-all in the `Insafian` dominated 124-member assembly.

The house`s custodian, Speaker Asad Qaisar, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for performing Haj, often remains absent from thesessions.

He holds dual offices simultaneously acts as a speaker and provincial president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Despite commitments, he has yet to quit the party office.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has set new precedent in parliamentary history of the country that a speaker also holds its party`s office, which automatically makes suspicious his neutrality.

In his absence, Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid runs the show. Neither lawmakers listen to him during proceedings nor does he bother tokeepthehousein order.

Like past, the proceedings started one hour late daily.

Under procedure and conduct of business rules, the house would take up the agenda soon after recitation from the Holy Quran. But members of the sitting assembly have made mockery of the business rules. Every MPA seems master of his own destiny.

Instead of following agenda members spend more than one hour daily on irrelevant topics without the permission of the chair.

According to senior legislators, point of order is the mosteffective tool, which has to be used rarely to draw attention to a breach in rules or extra ordinary situation arise during proceedings. It can be used at any time during a meeting including interrupting a speaker, but it must be valid. No discussion or debate, according to the rules shall be allowed on any point of order but the speaker may, if he thinks fit, hear members before giving his decision.

`In the sitting assembly, the house`s rules of business, including the point of order, are misused,` remarked one senior functionary in the assem-bly secretariat.

He said a member could not raise a point of order just for seeking information or explaining his position and lawmaker would have to submit his point of order in writing to the officials assisting the speaker.

`If a lawmaker wants to raise an issue or need personal explanation during the proceedings, he or she can talk on point of personal explanation with the permission of the chair, use tool of call attention notice, adjournment motion or through question, he said, `but point of order should be used when there is some serious breach in rules.

However, MPAs speak on point of order to highlight petty issues like posting, transfer and appointments of class-IV employees.Lawmakers have made the habit of speaking spontaneously during proceedings instead of following the rules.

Members start talking without mentioning whether he is speaking on a point of order, adjournment motion or call attention notice. This free-forall situation has also confused secretariat staff compiling record of the proceedings.

`If a member does not mention specific tool like point of order, adjournment motion etc before starting debate on any issue in the house, then our staff mention it as `untitled` in the assembly record, said one concerned official.Sitting lawmakers are completing five months since taking oath on May 29, but majority of them hardly follow procedure and conduct of business rules. Many of themhave yet to understand privilege motion, call attention notice or adjournment motion.

A lawmaker from Mardan, who spoke on the floor of the house on Wednesday last about land compensation issue in his constituency, expressed ignorance about what rule he utilised to speak his point.

When asked what rule he applied for starting discussion on the topic, he replied: `I don`t know.

Same is the case with majority of the other members and even senior MPAs who had served as ministers in the previous government do not go by book.

Officials said they had repeatedly discussed those issues with the speaker and deputy speaker, but in vain.

`When staff point out violation of rules and conduct to the chair during proceedings, we are directed to let the proceedings continue. Now, the staffs also take it easy, he said.