ISLAMABAD, September 11, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan unanimously adopted a resolution on Monday to condemn the violence against Rohingya Muslims and urged the international community to take immediate notice of atrocities in Myanmar, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the 44th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for three hours and 20 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1631 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire proceedings.
- The Chief Minister was absent.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended entire proceedings.
- Twenty-two lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 12 (18%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, JUI-F, NP and MWM were present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
- Ten members applied for leave.
Output
- Moved by an NP lawmaker, the House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn the killings of Muslims in Myanmar and urged the international community as well as United Nations to take immediate notice of atrocities there. Twelve lawmakers expressed their views on it for two hours and six minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred a Starred Question appearing on agenda due to ministerial absence.
- The House referred a Privilege Motion moved by an NP lawmaker to the relevant committee which was against the allegation of corruption on him.
- JUI-F lawmaker also moved an Adjournment Motion regarding killings of Rohingya Muslims. However, it was merged with the resolution adopted by the House to condemn these killings.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on five Points of Order consuming 15 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.