ISLAMABAD, June 1, 2021: The Sindh Assembly failed to transact agenda amid protest by the opposition lawmakers and was adjourned to meet again on June 4, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Tuesday.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during the sixth sitting of the 21st session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for 23 minutes.
- The sitting started at 03:28 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
- The speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The deputy speaker was also present.
- The leader of the house (chief minister) and the opposition leader did not attend the sitting.
- Thirty-five legislators (15 percent) were present at the outset and 65 (39 percent) at the end of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PTI, PPPP, MQMP, TLP and MMAP were present while the leader of GDA did not attend the sitting.
- Six out of nine minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House did not consider two private members’ bills including the Sindh Education Standards and Curriculum (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Sindh Advisors (appointments, powers, functions, salaries, allowances and privileges) (Amendment)Bill, 2019.
- A resolution regarding implementation on laws related to forced conversion of religion remained unaddressed.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House neither observed question hour nor considered an adjournment motion about non-purchase of covid-19 vaccine by the federal government.
Order and Institutionalization
- The MQMP, PTI, and GDA lawmakers protested for eight minutes when the speaker did not allow them to move a resolution demanding provincial government to inform the House about measures taken to provide relief to people during pandemic. During their protest, the Chair announced to adjourn the House to meet again on Friday, June 4, 2021 at 02:00 pm.
Transparency
- ‘List of Business’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the 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