ISLAMABAD, February 13, 2018: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Tuesday did not observe question hour due to absence of Minister for Health who had to respond questions related to his department, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during twelfth sitting of the 27th session:
Members’ Participation
- The KP Assembly met for an hour and 56 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1525 hours against the scheduled time 1500 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 38 MPAs (31%) were present at outset and 32 (26%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JI, PPPP, PML-N and ANP attended the sitting.
- Two minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House adopted a resolution urging the federal government to take steps to resolve the issues being faced by Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia.
- The House passed the KP Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and witnessed introduction of the KP Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the KP Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
- Two bills including the KP Powers of Attorney (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the KP Establishment of Information Technology Board (Amendment) Bill, 2017 were not taken up.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House did not observe question hour due to absence of Provincial Minister for Health and all 15 starred questions on the agenda remained unaddressed.
- The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) to start the crushing plants in Malakand division while another CAN on the agenda about similar issue in Lowe Dir was not taken up.
- The Chair referred a Privilege Motion, moved by a PPP lawmaker, to the relevant committee.
Order and Institutionalization
- A PTI lawmaker, after the inception of sitting, started protesting against the provincial government for denying his constituency its share in the gas royalty. However, he left the protest at 1650 hours after assurance by treasury benches to resolve the issue.
- A PPPP lawmaker also protested for 10 minutes over not observing question hour.
- Ten Points of Order consumed 20 minutes of the proceedings.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday, February 16, 2018.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Information on Members’ attendance is not available to observers and media.
The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted