ISLAMABAD, November 23, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2016 while two government bills including redrafted Right to Information bill and amended Provincial Motor Vehicle bill were introduced in the House on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during sixth sitting of the 28th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 17 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1047 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The proceedings were suspended for three minutes due to a prayer break.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 32 minutes while rest of the proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister attended the proceedings for 17 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for one hour and two minutes.
- Thirty lawmakers (18%) were present at start and 43 (26%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PTI were present.
- Four minority members also attended the sitting.
- Twelve members applied for leave.
Output
- Introduced by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
- The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Bill, 2016 and the Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Both bills were referred to the relevant committees for deliberations.
- The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs withdrew previous version of the Sindh Right to Information Bill, 2016 that was introduced during the last session (27th) on September 22, 2016.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Three out of 12 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers. The lawmakers also asked 15 Supplementary Questions.
- The House did not take up an Adjournment Motion (AM) due to absence of the mover.
- The House took up five Call Attention Notices (CANs) on various issues of public importance.
- The House discussed a Matter of Public Importance regarding shortage of water in the province. Four lawmakers took part in the discussion.
- The House deferred the election of two lawmakers for representation on Board of Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA).
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers was not available on website of the Assembly.
This 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.