ISLAMABAD, September 21, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh witnessed introduction of two government bills and adoption of a resolution that condemned the anti-Pakistan statement of MQM’s founder on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the 27th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 45 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1013 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The proceedings were suspended for three minutes due to the call for prayers.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Speaker announced the names of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for one hour and 58 minutes.
- Forty-nine lawmakers (29%) were present at the start and 93 (55%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PTI were present.
- Five minority members also attended the sitting.
- Three members applied for leave.
Output
- The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Zulfikarabad Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
- The House unanimously adopted a joint resolution tabled by MQM lawmaker to condemn the anti-Pakistan statement of the MQM’s founder, Altaf Hussain. Ten lawmakers spoke on the resolution for one hour and 48 minutes, which was taken as supplementary agenda.
- The Speaker announced the accent of the Governor on nine bills.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Three out of five Starred Questions were responded to by the government. The lawmakers also asked 13 Supplementary Questions.
- The House discussed a Privilege Motion moved by MQM lawmaker for 18 minutes. However, the Motion was withdrawn by the mover after the government opposed it.
- An Adjournment Motion appearing on the List of Business was not taken up due to the mover’s absence.
- The Speaker administered the oath of two newly elected members Aurangzaib Phanwar (PPP) and Ghulam Murtaza Baloch (PPP).
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on seven Points of Order consuming 15 minutes of the proceedings.
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.