ISLAMABAD, September 30, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) passed two government bills and adopted five supplementary resolutions after suspension of the rules, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during ninth sitting of eighth session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for five hours and 20 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 50 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1425 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
- The Speaker chaired the sitting for two hours and five minutes while a Member of Panel of Chairpersons presided over rest of the sitting.
- The Deputy Speaker was absent.
- The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of Opposition attended the entire proceedings.
- Forty-nine legislators (34%) were present at the outset and 24 (17%) at the end of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of ANP and PPPP attended the proceedings.
- Three out of four minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House passed the KP Tourism Bill, 2019 which was earlier introduced in the House on September 23, 2019.
- Introduced by the Minister for Minerals, the House deferred the KP Excise Duty on Minerals (Labour Welfare) Bill, 2019 till next sitting.
- The House passed the KP Special Police Officers (Regularization of Services) Bill, 2019 which was introduced in the House by Minister for Law.
- The House adopted three supplementary resolutions to implement education quota in Newly Merged Districts of KP, provide quality cellular network services in Swat and compensate families of those who lost their lives in Karak road accident. These resolutions were sponsored by PTI, ANP and MMAP lawmakers respectively.
- Sponsored by MMAP and PTI lawmakers, the House adopted two other resolutions to condemn Chaman bomb blast and hail Prime Minister’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up nine out of 15 starred questions. The remaining questions were lapsed due to absence of their movers. The lawmakers asked six supplementary questions as well.
- Ministers for Law and Communications and Works responded to two Calling Attention Notices (CANs). These notices urged the government to make laws against use of ice drugs and expedite the construction of Takht Bai Road in district Charsada. These CANs were raised by ANP and MMAP lawmakers respectively.
- The House held general discussion on Medical Teaching Institutions (MTI) and health issues in KP. As many as six lawmakers – three from MMAP, one each from ANP, PTI and PPPP – participated in debate consuming an hour and 30 minutes of the proceedings.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as six lawmakers spoke on Points of Order consuming ten minutes of the proceedings.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on October 1, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1400 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the KP Assembly proceeding conducted by United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted