ISLAMABAD, December 8, 2017: The Balochistan Assembly on Friday adopted one resolution and passed a motion to establish minorities’ caucus in the House, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during the third sitting of the Assembly’s 46th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1715 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- As many as 16 lawmakers (25%) were present at the outset and also at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of NP, JUI-F and ANP were present during the proceedings.
- Two minority members also attended the sitting.
- Six members applied for leave.
Output
- Tabled by the Leader of the Opposition, the House adopted a resolution condemning US decision about recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital. Six lawmakers debated this resolution for 55 minutes.
- Two other resolutions about setting up Office of Press Council of Pakistan in Quetta and improving visa courier services in Quetta were not considered.
- The House did not take up the International Islamic University of Science and Technology Quetta Bill, 2016.
- On behalf of Advisor to Chief Minister on Law, an NP lawmaker proposed amendments in Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business which were referred to the relevant committee for consideration.
Representation and Responsiveness
- All nine starred questions and three Calling Attention Notices on the agenda were deferred due to absence of relevant ministers.
- The House adopted a motion to establish Minorities Caucus in the Assembly. The motion was tabled by PML-N lawmaker.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on eight Points of Order consuming 19 minutes of the proceedings.
- Two lawmakers – one each from ANP and JUI-F – protested within the House for nine minutes over setting up more than 100 water reservoirs in one district of the province.
- A JUI-F lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1845 hours following which the Chair ordered the bell to be rung for five minutes. The quorum was found incomplete which led to adjournment of the sitting at 1850 hours.
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