ISLAMABAD, January 24, 2019: The Sindh Injured Persons Compulsory Medical Treatment (Amal Umer) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 11th sitting of the fourth session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for three hours and 12 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1125 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 46 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Leader of the House attended the sitting for two hours and 24 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 42 minutes.
- As many as 78 lawmakers (46%) were present at outset and 27 lawmakers (16%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PTI, TLP, MQMP and MMAP attended the sitting.
- As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- The Minister for Health introduced the Sindh Injured Persons Compulsory Medical Treatment (Amal Umer) Bill, 2019. The House referred the bill to a Select Committee.
- Moved by the lawmakers belonging to PPPP and MQMP, the House adopted a resolution recommending federal government to reconsider its decision of shifting Pakistan International Airline’s Headquarter to Islamabad from Karachi. As many as 10 lawmakers debated the resolution for 28 minutes.
- Moved by a MMAP lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to make a master plan for Lyari’s Infrastructure. As many as three lawmakers debated the resolution for 13 minutes.
- Moved by a PPPP lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to regularize all villages and give ownership of the land to people living there. As many as three lawmakers debated on the resolution for six minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Minister for Irrigation responded to four out of nine Starred Questions while the remaining five questions were not taken up. The lawmakers asked 24 supplementary questions as well while the Chair disallowed a supplementary question.
- The Ministers for Local Government and Revenue responded to three Call Attention Notices (CANs) regarding ‘poor arrangements for cleanliness in PS-106’, ‘accessibility of land record database to people’ and ‘deplorable condition of Fire Brigade Karachi’. The House did not address two CANs about declining state of Chemical Bacteriological Laboratory and delay in possession of plots to allottees in Project of SITE Phase-2.
- The Chair ruled a Privilege Motion of PTI lawmaker out-of-order.
- An Adjournment Motion of PPPP lawmaker regarding effects of poisonous water of Punjab’s industries on lands in Ghotki and Sukkur lapsed due to the absence of mover.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker spoke on a Point of Order for two minutes.
- A lawmaker belonging to GDA staged a two-minute protest over the Chair’s refusal to allow her to continue her speech on a CAN.
- The lawmakers belonging to PTI, GDA and MQMP staged a seven-minute protest against the Chair’s decision to rule out a PTI lawmaker’s Privilege Motion. Subsequently, they walked out from the proceedings. Lawmakers belonging to GDA and MQMP returned after six minutes while PTI lawmakers did not return till the adjournment.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on January 25, 2019 (Friday) at 1000 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.