ISLAMABAD, November 14, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh discussed law and order situation in Karachi and referred a government bill to select committee on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fourth sitting of the third session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for four hours and 26 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1123 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for three hours and 15 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) attended the sitting for an hour and 58 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 53 lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 79 (47%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM-P, PTI and MMAP attended the sitting.
- As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers were present during the proceedings.
Output
- Moved by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House referred the Code of Civil Procedure (Sindh Amendment) bill, 2018 to select committee.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Ministers for Food, Home and Local Government responded to four Calling Attention Notices (CANs) regarding the staff appointments in Sindh Food Authority, and deteriorated sewerage system, installation of CCTV cameras and unfair distribution of water in Karachi.
- The House left a CAN about police’s involvement in sale of snatched motorcycles unaddressed.
- Moved by MQM-P, the House held a discussion on an Adjournment Motion (AM) regarding law and order situation in Karachi. As many as ten lawmakers participated in the discussion that continued for two hours and three minutes.
- Raised by MQM lawmaker, the House admitted an AM regarding unannounced load-shedding in Sindh for discussion on Monday, November 19, 2018.
- The House took up five Starred Questions during the Question Hour. The Minister for Revenue responded to the questions. The lawmakers asked 28 supplementary questions as well.
Order and Institutionalization
- The House elected two PPPP lawmakers to serve on the Board of the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA).
- The House elected two PPPP and a PTI lawmaker to serve on the Sindh Orphanages Supervision and Control Board.
- The opposition lawmakers staged a seven-minute protest against the Chair’s refusal to allow a lawmaker belonging to MQM to move a CAN. The Chair had disallowed the notice due to expiry of the time-period allocated for CANs.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on November 15, 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.