ISLAMABAD, August 8, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan adopted three Private Members’ resolution on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the third sitting of the 15th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for four hours and 57 minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 32 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1702 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for three hours and one minute while a member of panel of chairperson chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for two hours and 39 minutes.
- As many as 16 MPAs (25%) were present at the outset and eight (12%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JWP, BNP-M, HDP, MMA and PTI attended the proceedings.
- One out of three minority lawmakers attended the proceedings.
Output
- Moved by MMA lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution urging the provincial government to reach federal government for construction of highway from Mashkhel to Nok Kundi under supervision of the National Highways Authority. Three lawmakers debated the resolution for ten minutes.
- Moved by PkMAP lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to take steps against child labor in different coal mines. Three lawmakers spoke on it for seven minutes.
- Moved by BNP-M lawmaker, the House adopted another resolution urging the government to provide financial assistance to the farmers to compensate their loss of crops. Two lawmakers including mover of the resolution spoke on it for 12 minutes.
- The House deferred another two Private Members’ resolutions appearing on agenda.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Ministers concerned responded to 12 out of 16 starred questions while the remaining four questions were not taken up. The lawmakers asked 22 supplementary questions as well.
- Sponsored by HDP and PkMAP lawmakers, the House debated an Adjournment Motion regarding prevailing law and order situation in the province. Five lawmakers spoke on it for an hour and six minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on 12 points of order consuming an hour and eight minutes of the proceedings.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on August 10, 2019 (Saturday) at 1100 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Attendance of the lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted