ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2015: The Balochistan Assembly opened debate on the Provincial Budget 2015-16 with the speech of Leader of the Opposition on Saturday, reports Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
The sitting started 40 minutes behind the schedule with 37 members (57% of the total membership-65) present at the start and 40 (62%) at the time of adjournment.
The Leader of the Opposition spoke for 47 minutes followed by PML lawmaker 21 minutes.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 10 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1540 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of 40 minutes.
- 37 members were present at the start and 40 at the end of the sitting.
- A maximum of 43 members (66%) were observed to be present at one point during the proceedings.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader attended the entire sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PML, ANP, JUI-F and PkMAP were present.
- Two members applied for leave.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
Output
- The House approved 27 Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2014-15.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Leader of the Opposition opened the Budget debate and spoke for 47 minutes.
- Another PML lawmaker also participated in the debate and spoke for 21 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