PM aide seeks rollback of KP laws expanding lawmakers’ privileges

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Affairs Ikhtiar Wali Khan on Wednesday called for the reversal of recently enacted laws in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that broaden the powers, immunities and benefits of provincial lawmakers.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Khan criticised three laws passed by the KP Assembly on April 30. These were the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act 2026, the KP Province Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act 2026, and the KP Province (Salaries and Allowances of Members) Act 2026. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi assented to the legislation on May 6, but the laws have not been made public on the KP Assembly website, where the Acts and gazette notifications are yet to be uploaded.

Khan alleged that the new framework placed lawmakers beyond the reach of ordinary law. He said the legislation granted wide-ranging protections to MPAs and objected in particular to provisions linked to detention and arrest. Under Section 10, assembly members have been given immunity from preventive detention, while Section 11 requires authorities to obtain prior permission from the speaker before arresting an MPA in a criminal case. “No law of this country applies to them. They can fire at anyone or hit anyone, but they are not answerable to anyone,” Khan said, addressing those clauses.

"Under the umbrella of freedom of expression, [an MPA] can do anything and the speaker will be the custodian and he will be the only person to give permission to arrest a member of the assembly," he added,

Khan argued that it was unlikely the PTI speaker would permit such an arrest.

Weapons, passports and media access

Khan also objected to Section 14, which deals with additional privileges for MPAs. Under that provision, lawmakers are entitled to licences for eight non-prohibited bore weapons, including four free licences and four available on payment of a notified fee. Under the previous law, lawmakers were entitled to four free lifetime weapon licences.

Questioning the change, Khan said that “If someone has the licence to own eight Kalashnikovs, what will he do?”

He called for deweaponisation across the country and said responsibility for security should lie with the government, armed forces and police.

The prime minister’s coordinator further criticised a provision allowing lifetime official passports for assembly members and their spouses. “Blue passport for life means that these people will leave on their passport and surrender it, and then get political asylum. […] They want to insult Pakistan globally,” he said.

Khan also took issue with what he described as restrictions on press freedom, saying the new laws empowered the speaker and the provincial government to stop certain journalists and publications from covering assembly proceedings.

Speaker’s office rejects criticism

A statement issued by the office of KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati rejected the claim that lawmakers had been given new or exceptional privileges. According to the statement, nearly 99 per cent of the powers and facilities under discussion were already part of the 1988 law, and the latest amendments only provided further clarification.