ISLAMABAD, January 27, 2017: The lawmakers of Provincial Assembly of Sindh held discussion on the Water Accord, 1991 in the absence of Chief Minister that consumed four hours and 23 minutes (81%) of the sitting’s time, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Friday.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth sitting of 29th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for five hours and 25 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1435 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
- The proceedings remained suspended for three minutes due to Azaan break.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting for four hours and 53 minutes while the rest of proceedings were chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the proceedings.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 20 minutes.
- Twenty-six lawmakers (15%) were present at the start and 49 (29%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM and PTI were present in the House.
- Five minority members also attended the sitting.
- Eight members applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House held discussion on the Water Accord, 1991 for apportionment of waters of Indus River System among the provinces. Twenty-six lawmakers participated in the debate, consuming four hours and 23 minutes of the proceedings.
- Five Starred Questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers. The lawmakers also asked 26 Supplementary Questions.
- The House deferred five Call Attention Notices (CANs) appearing on the agenda, until next sitting.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker belonging to MQM protested for two minutes against unwarranted remarks passed by a treasury lawmaker against him.
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.