ISLAMABAD, October 29, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan passed three government bills amidst opposition’s walkout on Monday, observers Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the first sitting of fourth session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for four hours and 11 minutes
- The sitting started at 1648 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister attended the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition was present in the sitting.
- As many as 47 (72%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 24 (37%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of BAP, HDP, ANP, BNP-M, MMA and PTI were present.
- As many as two out of three minority members attended the sitting.
- Three newly elected members took oath and signed the roll of members.
- As many as six members applied for leave of absence.
- The Speaker nominated a Panel of Chairpersons comprising four members – two from BNP-M, and one each from MMA and PTI.
Output
- The House passed three government bills namely the University of Gwadar Bill 2018, the Balochistan Government Benevolent Fund Bill 2018 and Special Assistants to Chief Minister Balochistan (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances, Privileges and Termination of Services) Bill, 2018. As many as eight lawmakers debated these bills for 43 minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Minister for Forestry responded to a Call Attention Notice submitted by a BNP-M lawmaker regarding forest cutting in district Kalat.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as 17 members spoke on nine Points of Orders consuming an hour and 8 minutes.
- The lawmakers belonging to opposition staged a walkout against passage of the Balochistan Government Benevolent Fund Bill 2018.
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.