ISLAMABAD, April 1, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan adopted two resolutions during third sitting of its 27th session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Some key observations are as follows:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 20 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1626 hours against scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- Twenty-seven (42%) lawmakers were present at the start and 25 (39%) at the time of adjournment of sitting.
- A maximum of 30 (47%) members attended the sitting.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition attended entire sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of PML-N, JUI-F, PML, ANP, NP and PkMAP were present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
- Ten members applied for leave.
Output
- Tabled by PML lawmaker, the House rejected a resolution for giving one month salary to government employees as bonus on religious festivals. Five members spoke on it for 11 minutes.
- Tabled by an ANP member, the House unanimously adopted a resolution to contact with federal government for winding up unannounced electricity load-shedding in the province and minimize its duration for agriculturists. Five members spoke on it for 32 minutes.
- A resolution tabled by PkMAP lawmaker regarding fund allocation for establishment of new Cadet and Residential Colleges for girls in upcoming annual budget was opposed by the Provincial Minister for Health. Five members debated it for 11 minutes.
- A joint resolution to improve working and provide state of art facilities in provincial Art Gallery Center was unanimously adopted by the House. Two members spoke on it for seven minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The government orally responded to six out of seven starred questions appearing on the agenda. The lawmakers also asked six supplementary questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- Members spoke on eight Points of Order consuming 34 minutes of the proceeding.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Attendance of Members was not made public.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceeding conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.