ISLAMABAD, November 3, 2017: The Sindh Assembly did not take up the scheduled business except two Call Attention Notices appearing on the Orders of the Day, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Friday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during third sitting of the 36th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 40 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1155 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The proceedings remained suspended for three minutes due to prayers’ call.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
- The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) attended the proceedings for 59 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition was absent.
- As many as 52 (31%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 39 (24%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML-F and PTI attended the sitting.
- Five minority members were also present.
Output
- The House did not take up the Sindh Safe Blood Transfusion Bill, 2017.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up three out of five Starred Questions. In addition, the lawmakers raised 23 supplementary questions.
- The House took up two out of five Calling Attention Notices regarding women problems at Larkana Prison and delay in construction of building for Khalid Memorial Boy’s High School. The remaining CANs were deferred due to absence of the concerned ministers.
- The House observed one minute silence over the demise of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s daughter.
- The House left a Privilege Motion and an Adjournment Motion unaddressed.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker belonging to MQM staged a protest for two minutes against the attitude of the Chair for disallowing him to raise a supplementary question.
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.