ISLAMABAD, April 27, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed two government bills amid protest by Opposition parties on Wednesday during 14th sitting of its ongoing 24th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 48 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1059 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for one hour and 33 minutes while the rest of proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 22 minutes.
- The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for an hour and 36 minutes.
- 32 lawmakers (20%) were present at the start and 78 (48%) at the end of the sitting.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PTI were present.
- Two minority members were present.
- One member applied for leave.
Output
- Tabled by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed the Sindh Local Government (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Sindh Local Government (Third Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Representation and Responsiveness
- A lawmaker belonging to PPPP participated in Pre-Budget discussion and spoke for one minute.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on three Points of Order consuming five minutes of the proceeding.
- The Opposition parties protested on floor of the House against the passage of the Sindh Local Government (Third Amendment) Bill, 2016 for eleven minutes following which the Deputy Speaker suspended the proceeding for 10 minutes at 1237 hours. The Opposition continued its protest on resumption of the proceeding forcing the Chair to adjourn the House.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to observers and media.
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.