PESHAWAR, Mar 19: The government on Wednesday referred the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sensitive and Vulnerable Establishments and Places (Security) Ordinance, 2014 to the provincial assembly`s select committee after reservations of the opposition about it.

Before the bill was referred to the committee, treasury benches defeated `disapproval resolution` of the opposition against the ordinance by voice vote.

After voting, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said the government had no objection if the bill was referred to the committee. He said the government believed in consensus and had no intention to bypass opposition.

Governor Engineer Shaukatullah had promulgated the ordinance on February 7 for the security of sensitive and other vulnerable establishments and places in the province.

Qaumi Watan Party parliamentary leader Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao and his fellow MPA AnisazebTahirkheli jointly moved the `disapproval resolution` They opposed sections 2(i), (j) and (1), Section 9(1) and Section 12 of the bill.

Giving arguments in support of the resolution, Sikandar Sherpao termed the bill against the sprit of the Constitution and said the Constitution was a contract between the state and its citizens and both sides had certain obligations and responsibilities.However, he said the said ordinance was repugnant to the Constitution and the provincial government had tried to absolve itself from its responsibilities.

Under the Constitution, he said, this was the state`s responsibility to provide security, protection to its citizens and ensure their liberty.

He also quoted several Supreme Court judgements, which determined that the state was duty bound to provide security to its citizens.

`Maintenance of law and order and provision of security to citizens is the responsibility of the government,` said Sherpao while giving reference from a judgement of the Supreme Court.

He said Section 2 (1) of the ordinance defined `security arrangements` both physical and technical arrangements including provision of CCTV Cameras, bio-metric system, walkthrough gates, security alarm and modern gadgetry. His contention was that the bill would put financial bur-den on the people.

Similarly, the MPA said the government had declared places like government or non government institutions, religious places as sensitive establishments and places in the ordinance.

He said each every place including shop, bazaars, gas stations, commercial streets and shopping arcades had been declared vulnerable establishments and places, making citizens responsible to make security arrangements for themselves.

`Whether we follow the Constitution or this ordinance,` he observed while seeking ruling from the chair on the subject.

Mr Sherpao said after taking oath, lawmakers were bound to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, while the bill was unconstitutional.

MPA Anisazeb said police had been delegated widespread powers in the said ordinance and the law could be misused.

She said the government had tried to free itself from responsibilities and passed the buck to citizens.

`Except personal car, the law demands installation of gadgets almost everywhere. This is too much,` she remarked and asked for referring the bill to the select committee.

Information Minister Shah Farman said the government had no intention to abandon its basic responsibilities.

He said if the assembly passed a bill which was against the spirit of theConstitution, then the Supreme Court could declare it null and void.

Meanwhile, the non-assignment of the law and parliamentary affairs` portfolio in the cabinet brought big embarrassment for the coalition government on Wednesday.

Nobody on the treasury side had any clue when opposition suggested certain amendments in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Restriction of Rented Buildings (Security) Bill, 2014.

Parliamentary secretary for communication and works Arif Yousaf, a close aid of the chief minister, proved totally blank about the amendments. He was unable to speak in favour or against the amendments.

Arif, who is also looking after all portfolios held by chief minister, looked in the direction of Mr Khattak for consent on whether to support or oppose the amendments.Minister for local government Inayatullah Khan tried to rescue the parliamentary secretary but failed to give satisfactory reply.

After Inayatullah, minister for Zakat and religious affairs Habibullah Khan tried in vain to step in.

Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid who was presiding over the sitting asked Arif Yousaf to say only yes or no about the amendments. The portfolio of the law and parliamentary affairs has been lying vacant since the killing of Israrullah Khan Gandapur in suicide attack in October 2013.