ISLAMABAD, March 28, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Tuesday left 23 motions seeking amendments in Assembly Rules of Procedure and four motions on matters of public importance unaddressed, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during second sitting of the 31st session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 52 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1110 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and two minutes while rest of the proceedings was chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Deputy Speaker was absent.
- The Chief Minister attended the proceedings for 36 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting eleven minutes.
- Thirty-four lawmakers (21%) were present at the start and 38 (23%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F and PTI were present.
- Six minority members also attended the sitting.
- Four members applied for leave.
Output
- Tabled by MQM lawmaker, the House referred a resolution demanding issuance of Health Cards to journalists to the Standing Committee on health.
- The House rejected two resolution sponsored by PML-F and MQM lawmakers while two lawmakers belonging to PML-F withdrew their resolutions upon assurance by the government.
- The House left 23 motions seeking amendments to the Rules of Procedure unaddressed.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Four Private Motions appearing on the agenda were not taken up while one was withdrawn by its mover.
- Five Starred Questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers. The lawmakers asked 12 Supplementary Questions as well.
- The Speaker constituted two committees to review the health policy and revise the salaries of MPAs.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on three Points of Order, consuming eight minutes of the proceedings.
- An MQM lawmaker staged a token protest against the Speaker for rejecting his resolution.
- MQM lawmakers staged a walkout for three minutes against the Speaker for rejecting a resolution of their party member.
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.