ISLAMABAD, November 12, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Monday witnessed the introduction of a government bill and discussed water shortage in Karachi through a Calling Attention Notice, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings of the second sitting of third session of the Assembly proceedings:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1555 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy speaker was also present.
- The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and six minutes.
- Sixty lawmakers (36%) were present at the outset and 66 (39%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, GDA, TLP and MMAP attended the sitting.
- As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers remained present during the proceedings.
Output
- Presented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House introduced the Code of Civil Procedure (Sindh Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House admitted an adjournment motion regarding the unjust distribution of water in Karachi that was moved by an MQM lawmaker.
- The House took up two CANs regarding the setting up of an ambulance service for NICVD in Karachi and the shortage of drinking water in the provincial capital city. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minister for Local Government responded to these CANs, respectively.
- Two more CANs appearing on the agenda were dropped due to the absence of relevant movers.
Order and Institutionalization
- Eight Points of Order were raised during the sitting, consuming 28 minutes of the proceedings.
- The House took up four starred questions appearing on the agenda whereas the lawmakers asked 22 supplementary questions as well.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on November 13, 2018 at 1000 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.