ISLAMABAD, March 29, 2021: The Balochistan Assembly left 80 percent agenda unaddressed and debated impact of energy crisis on agriculture sector, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 4th Sitting of 35th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for an hour and 50 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1730 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- A Member of Panel of Chairpersons presided over the entire sitting in the absence of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
- The Leaders of the House (Chief Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- As many as 10 MPAs (15%) were present at the outset and three (5%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of MMAP, PkMAP, BNP, HDP and BNP-M attended the proceedings.
- One minority lawmaker was present.
Output
- Introduced by the Provincial Minister for Finance, the House passed the Balochistan Development and Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Bill, 2021.
- The Provincial Minster for Finance presented the first bi-annual report regarding implementation on NFC award under the Article 160 (3B) of Constitution.
- A BAP lawmaker presented the annual report of Balochistan Public Service Commission for the year 2019.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House neither observed Question Hour nor took up four calling attention notices appearing on the list of business.
Order and Institutionalization
- Seven lawmakers spoke on points of order for an hour and ten minutes which were regarding loss to farmers due to electricity load-shedding in the province.
- A MMAP lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1905 hours which was found complete upon counting.
- A BNP lawmaker pointed out the quorum again at 1920 hours which was found incomplete and the Chair adjourned the sitting to meet again on March 31, 2021 (Wednesday) at 1600 hours.
Transparency
- ‘List of Business’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of the lawmakers was not available to media and observers.
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.