ISLAMABAD, April 14, 2017: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly passed two bills before being adjourned to meet again after more than two weeks, observed Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Friday.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings during 2nd sitting of 24th session:
Members’ Participation
- The KP Assembly met for two hours and 18 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1512 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- Forty-eight lawmakers (39%) were present at the start and 15 (12%) at the end of sitting.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister attended the sitting for two hours and eight minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was not present.
- Parliamentary leaders of JI, ANP and PML-N were present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
Output
- The House passed the KP Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the KP Free Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education Bill, 2017 with amendments.
- The House witnessed introduction of the KP Ehtesab Commission (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the KP Food Safety Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
- Another bill – the KP Dowry, Bridal Gift and Marriage Functions Restriction Bill, 2017 – was referred to the Select Committee for further deliberation.
- Five audit reports of the Auditor General of Pakistan on Accounts of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the Year 2013-14 were presented and referred to the Public Accounts Committee.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Thirteen out of 15 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were taken up while lawmakers asked 10 Supplementary Questions.
- Two Privilege Motions of PTI lawmakers against Secretary Education and Director General Health Services were referred to the relevant committee.
- A PPPP lawmaker refused to take up his Calling Attention Notice (CAN) as he submitted it one year ago. The CAN was about abolishing 450 student seats for admission in Government College, Peshawar.
- The House took up another CAN of PPPP lawmaker regarding TMA employees’ strike in Bannu.
Order and Institutionalization
- Four Points of Order consumed 16 minutes of the sitting.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and other stakeholders.
- Attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of KP Assembly proceedings conducted by United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted