ISLAMABAD, June 5, 2017: The Provincial Government presented the Sindh Finance Bill, 2017 in the Assembly along with the Budget Statement for 2017-18 and the Supplementary Budget Statement for 2016-17 amidst opposition’s protest on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the Budget (33rd) session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 43 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1532 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) and the Leader of the Opposition attended entire sitting.
- Ninety-five lawmakers (57%) were present at outset while 107 (64%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F and PTI attended the sitting.
- Eight minority members were present.
- One member applied for leave.
Output
- The Chief Minister introduced the Sindh Finance Bill, 2017 in the House and also presented the Annual Budget Statement for the year 2017-2018 and the Supplementary Budget Statement for the year 2016-2017.
Order and Institutionalization
- Entire Opposition protested on floor of the House for two hour and one minute during budget speech of the Chief Minister while lawmakers belonging to PML-F, PML-N and PTI also staged a walkout at 1530 hours and did not return to the House till the adjournment.
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.