ISLAMABAD, September 16, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan transacted entire business appearing on Orders of the Day in absence of the Speaker on Saturday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are key observations of the proceedings during third sitting of the 44th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 47 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1633 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- A member of Panel of Chairpersons presided over the entire proceedings in the absence of the Speaker.
- The Chief Minister attended the proceedings for 60 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire proceedings.
- Thirteen lawmakers (20%) were present at the outset and 18 (28%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and PML-N were present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
- Twelve members applied for leave.
Output
- Moved by a PkMAP lawmaker on behalf of Chief Minister, the House adopted a constitutional resolution under Article 144 of the Constitution of Pakistan which empowers the Balochistan Assembly to make legislation regarding Ruet-e-Hilal that shall be implementable in the entire country.
- The Minister for Finance presented an Audit report for Financial Year 2016-17 in the House.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House held discussion on an Adjournment Motion sponsored by Leader of the Opposition about issuance of licenses to the contractors to use dynamite for mining. Five lawmakers shared their views for 16 minutes.
- Moved by a PkMAP lawmaker, the House deferred a Call Attention Notice about delay in issuance of licenses to mine owners due to unsatisfactory reply of the minister.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on nine Points of Order consuming 27 minutes of the proceedings.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- 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.