ISLAMABAD, March 02, 2015: Starting 28 minutes behind the schedule, the 17th sitting of the Sindh Assembly’s 18th session continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.
Only six members (4%) were present at the start of the sitting and 63 (38%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting. However, the Opposition Leader was present in most of the proceedings’ time.
The House witnessed introduction of the Sindh Commission on Status of Women Bill 2015 and adopted a resolution for revising the electricity load-shedding schedule in the province.
Following are some key observations of the assembly business:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 10 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1028 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Opposition Leader was present for an hour and 45 minutes.
- Six members (4%) were present at the start and 63 legislators (38%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 67 members (40%) were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PML-F were present.
- Four minority members attended the sitting.
- One member applied for leave.
Output
- Provincial Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Sindh Commission on Status of Women Bill 2015.
- The House unanimously adopted a resolution urging the provincial government to contact the federal government for revising the electricity load-shedding schedule in the province.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Three out of five starred questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant department, while the legislators raised 19 supplementary questions during the sitting.
- Tabled by MQM lawmaker, the House also took up an adjournment motion about non-release of funds for ongoing development schemes by the provincial government.
- The House took up four calling attention notices (CANs) regarding mishaps occurring due to sub-standard gas cylinders in public transport; absence of emergency or rescue center on Super Highway; illegal arrests in Orangi Town, Karachi and construction of underpass at Nazimabad Board Office, Karachi. The CAN left unaddressed was about the registration of religious seminaries in Sindh.
Order and Institutionalization
- Eleven points of order consumed four minutes of the proceedings’ time.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to members, observers and others.
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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.