ISLAMABAD, June 2, 2021: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) left its 90 percent agenda unaddressed and was adjourned due to lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.
Following are the key observations of the House proceedings during the sixth sitting of the 18th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for two hours and twenty-five minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 30 minutes due to opposition’s protest.
- The sitting started at 03:20 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
- The deputy speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of speaker.
- The leader of the House (chief minister) was not present.
- The opposition leader attended the entire sitting.
- As many as 40 (28 percent) legislators were present at the start and 29 (20 percent) at the end of the sitting.
- Three out of four minority members were present.
- The parliamentary leaders of ANP and BAP attended the sitting.
Output
- The House did not take up the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Probation and Parole Bill, 2021.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up three out of five starred questions.
- The House did not take up two calling attention notices, an adjournment motion and discussion on prevailing price hike and unemployment in the province. An adjournment motion regarding transparency of National Testing Services (NTS) also remained unaddressed.
- The House continued debate on Chashma right bank canal and forthcoming budget. Five lawmakers took part in the debate and consumed twenty-five minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- Three lawmakers spoke on points of order for seven minutes related to child labor.
- The proceedings remained suspended for thirty minutes due to exchange of harsh words between treasury and opposition lawmakers over a question related to health department.
- A lawmaker belonging to MMAP also staged protest against the Chair’s attitude who did not allow him to speak on a point of order.
- A PTI’s lawmaker pointed out quorum at 05:40 pm following which the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for four minutes. The quorum was found incomplete upon counting and the House was adjourned to meet again on Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 02:00 pm.
Transparency
- ‘List of Business’ 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 the observation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted