ISLAMABAD, September 28, 2018: The Balochistan Assembly adopted three resolutions and deferred debate on National Finance Commission (NFC) award due to absence of Chief Minister, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet on Friday.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during the last third sitting of the Assembly’s 3rdsession:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 55 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1550 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting in absence of the Speaker.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition has not been notified yet in the Assembly.
- As many as 15 lawmakers (23%) were present at the outset and 21 (32%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of BNP-M, ANP and PkMAP were present during the proceedings.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
- Four members applied for the leave.
Output
- The House adopted three resolutions urging the federal government to construct new dams in the province, withdraw increase in prices of electricity and promote export of agricultural products.
- Two other resolutions on the agenda were deferred as their sponsors agreed to take them up in the next session.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred debate on NFC award and Public Sector Development Program (2018-19) due to absence of Chief Minister.
- Home Minister responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding closure of BS Program in 52 colleges of Balochistan.
- Another CAN regarding difficulties faced by pilgrims from Balochistan during last Hajj Operation was responded to by Provincial Minister for Finance.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker spoke on a point of order for two minutes.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was not available on the website of the Assembly.
- Attendance of Members was not made public.
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.