ISLAMABAD, June 22, 2015: The Advisor to Chief Minister on Finance concluded debate on the Provincial Budget 2015-2016 amid low attendance of lawmakers during the 4th sitting of 19th session on Monday, reports Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
The sitting started 48 minutes behind the schedule with 26 members (40% of the total membership-65) present at the start and 20 (31%) at the time of adjournment.
The Advisor to Chief Minister on Finance took 20 minutes to wind up the debate while 16 lawmakers – PkMAP (6), three each of NP, JUI-F, PML-N and one of PML – shared their views on budgetary proposals in 246 minutes (65% of the proceeding’s time).
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Balochistan Assembly met for six hours and 17 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1548 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of 48 minutes.
- The House had a prayer and Iftar break for 47 minutes.
- 26 members were present at the start and 20 at the end of sitting.
- A maximum of 35 members (54%) were observed to be present at one point during the proceedings.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting while the Opposition Leader was present for 105 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, PML-N, JUI-F and PML were present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
- No members applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Advisor to Chief Minister on Finance concluded the debate on provincial budget during his 20-minute speech.
- Sixteen lawmakers – PkMAP (6), three each of NP, JUI-F, PML-N and one of PML – shared their views about budget in 246 minutes.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.
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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