ISLAMABAD, November 18, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan transacted entire business appearing on agenda and passed two government bills and a joint resolution on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during third sitting of the 17th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for two hours and 48 minutes, however, the proceedings remained suspended for 31 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1617 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the proceedings for an hour and 33 minutes in the absence of the Speaker while rest of the sitting was chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- As many as 14 MPAs (22%) were present at the outset and six (9%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, BNP-A, BAP, MMAP and BNP-M attended the proceedings.
- Two out of three minority lawmakers attended the proceedings.
Output
- Jointly moved by MMAP, PkMAP, BNP, ANP, and BNP-M lawmakers, the House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial as well as federal governments to implement child protection laws to safeguard their rights. Three lawmakers spoke on it for 14 minutes.
- A BAP lawmaker, on behalf of Chief Minister, introduced the Balochistan Chief Minister and Provincial Ministers (Salaries, Allowances, and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which was referred to the concerned Standing Committee for consideration.
- Moved by Minister for Health, the House passed the Balochistan Healthcare Commission Bill, 2019 and the Code of Civil Procedure (Balochistan Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up four out of ten starred questions while the lawmakers asked four supplementary questions as well.
- The House took up a Call Attention Notice regarding appointment of medical staff at newly established Basic Health Units in Quetta.
- The House debated an Adjournment Motion (AM) about kidnapping of a student for ransom from District Qilla Abdullah. As many as six lawmakers spoke on it for 41 minutes.
- The Chair admitted an AM for discussion in next sitting which was regarding low pressure of gas in Quetta.
- Moved by a BAP lawmaker, the House approved a motion under Rule 180 to draft Rules of Procedures for functioning of Provincial Women Parliamentary Caucus.
Order and Institutionalization
- Six lawmakers spoke on Points of Order for 19 minutes.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on November 21, 2019 (Thursday) at 1500 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Attendance of the lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.
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