ISLAMABAD, September 29, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan adopted two resolutions and offered fateha for the departed souls of two Pakistani soldiers who got martyrdom at the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 34th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for three hours and 56 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1634 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 37 minutes while the remaining proceedings were chaired by two Members of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The post of Deputy Speaker is still lying vacant.
- The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the proceedings.
- Twenty-six lawmakers (38%) were present at the start and eight (12%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, NP, PML-Q and ANP were present.
- One minority member attended the sitting.
- Eight members applied for leave.
Output
- The House adopted two resolutions jointly tabled by the lawmakers. The first resolution was to condemn the attack on Pakistani soil by neighboring country (India) while the second resolution was about the establishment of NADRA executive office and separate counters for women citizens in the province.
- A resolution tabled by NP lawmaker regarding the provision of compensation to the families of journalists and some citizens who got killed in Quetta blast on August 8 was withdrawn after assurance given by the minster.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred Question Hour due to the absence of relevant minister as well as the mover.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on eight Points of Order, consuming 26 minutes of the proceedings.
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 proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.