PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Saturday passed a bill that prohibited the province’s governor, chief minister, ministers and other leading public office bearers from getting involved in private businesses in order to prevent conflict among matters of interest.
The provincial assembly placed the ban over private businesses run by public representatives and administrative officers for the first time in the country’s history. Public office holders will not be able to administer private businesses after the approval of the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Bill.
A ban has been placed over the private businesses run by the governor, cm, cabinet members, speaker, deputy speaker, chief secretary, administrative secretaries, special secretaries, advocate general and their coordinators. However, the relatives of these public office bearers and Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) were given immunity from the bill.
A three-member commission shall be formed in order to ensure the implementation upon the bill. The commission shall overview the assets of these public office bearers on annual basis whereas any person who fails to comply in accordance with the recommendations made by the commission shall be fined Rs 0.5 million whereas the movable and non-movable property belonging to the person shall also be confiscated.
The selection of the three members of the committee shall be made through the select committee. The commission shall comprise of two members, one of the members shall be a grade 20 retired officer whereas the other one shall be an expert on economic affairs.
The chairman of the commission shall enjoy a designation that shall be equivalent to that of a high court and Supreme Court judge. The chief minister shall have the authority to take action against the chairman and members of the commission.
