ISLAMABAD, July 30, 2016: The Balochistan Assembly adopted a resolution and witnessed introduction of a government bill on Saturday during third sitting of 31st session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1205 hours against the scheduled time 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- 20 MPAs (31%) were present at outset and 24 (37%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leader of ANP and PML attended the sitting.
- One minority member attended the sitting.
Output
- The Provincial Minister for Health introduced the Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill, 2016. The bill was referred to the relevant committee.
- The House unanimously adopted a resolution recommending the government to stop electricity load-shedding in all districts of the province and ensure accurate billing of electricity charges.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on eight points of order consuming 24 minutes of the proceeding.
- The lawmakers belonging to JUI-F, PML-N, PkMAP, and ANP staged walkout for eight minutes against electricity load-shedding in the province.
- A lawmaker belonging to JUI-F protested on floor of the House against absence of the Provincial Secretaries in Official Gallery of the Balochistan Assembly.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the media and observers.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceeding conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.