ISLAMABAD, May 10, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan referred the Balochistan Commission on Status of Women Bill, 2017 to the relevant committee on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the Assembly’s 40th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Balochistan Assembly met for 45 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1634 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Nineteen lawmakers (29%) were present at the outset and 24 (37%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of ANP, PML and NP were present.
- One minority member attended the sitting.
- Eighteen members applied for leave.
Output
- Moved by Advisor to Chief Minister on Law, the House referred the Balochistan Commission on Status of Women Bill, 2017 to relevant standing committee.
- Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges presented two reports of the committee regarding proposed amendments to the Assembly Rules of Procedure for allocation of time to discuss Points of Public Importance and constitution of Ethics and Advisory Committee.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House disposed of two Starred Questions due to absence of concerned lawmaker and minister.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on nine Points of Order consuming 31 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.