ISLAMABAD, December 13, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PAKP) passed six private members’ resolutions on Thursday and admitted an Adjournment Motion on SSP Dawar’s murder in Afghanistan for discussion, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during second sitting of fourth session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for two hours and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1045 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- As many as 47 members (38%) were present at the start and 51 (41%) at the end of the sitting.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders MMAP, PPPP, PMLN and PML-Q attended the sitting.
- As many as two out of three minority members were present.
Output
- The House adopted four scheduled private members resolutions, moved by PTI, ANP and MMAP lawmakers, recommending the provincial government to approach federal government for approval of construction on Peshawar-Dera Ismail Khan motorway, building new water reservoirs, supply electricity to Lower and Upper Dir from Golan Gol Power Project, and shift Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) Headquarters to Islamabad from Lahore.
- The House also adopted two supplementary resolutions, moved by MMAP and PTI lawmakers, recommending the government to provide pensions to disabled children of deceased WAPDA employees; and condemning the United States of America’s decision to blacklist Pakistan for religious freedom violations.
- The House did not proceed to vote on a resolution by MMA lawmaker regarding water supply schemes in PK-16 after the government’s proposal to raise the matter through a Calling Attention Notice.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House admitted an ANP lawmaker’s Adjournment Motion (AM) for discussion in the next sitting on the investigations into kidnap and murder of a Senior Superintendent (SSP) Tahir Dawar. The remaining three AMs appearing on the agenda lapsed as the Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure of PAKP permits moving only one motion in a sitting.
- The Ministers for Law and Health responded to two Calling Attention Notices, moved by MMA lawmakers, regarding the arrest of students protesting against fee-raise and the lack of doctors in district Chitral.
- The House took up nine out of 15 Starred Questions while one question lapsed due to absence of mover and four were deferred. The lawmakers asked five supplementary questions as well.
Order and Institutionalization
- A PPPP lawmaker staged a walkout for 18 minutes claiming that her agenda was being ignored.
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