ISLAMABAD, March 30, 2018: The Balochistan Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday demanding the allocation of 500 billion rupees for construction of water reservoirs in the province, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during the seventh sitting of the Assembly’s 50th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 44 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1646 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- A member of Panel of Chairpersons chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 18 lawmakers (%) were present at the outset and 7 (%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and PML were present during the proceedings.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
Output
- Moved by a PkMAP lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to contact federal government for allocation of 500 billion rupees in Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for constructing water reservoirs in the province.
- The Chief Minister gave an assurance to the House on a PkMAP lawmaker’s resolution regarding promotion of livestock in the province especially district Musakhel. The resolution was disposed of. As many as five lawmakers debated it for 29 minutes.
- The House disposed of another resolution regarding the reservations on delimitation of constituencies by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred a Starred Question addressed to the Revenue Department due to absence of the mover who belonged to National party.
Order and Institutionalization
- A PkMAP lawmaker pointed out at 1803 hours that the House did not have quorum – one fourth of total membership – to proceed with its business. The Chair ordered ringing the bells for five minutes that was followed by a suspension of proceedings for 19 minutes. However, the quorum was still incomplete on resumption of the proceedings and the sitting was adjourned.
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.