ISLAMABAD, February 24, 2014: The Sindh Assembly passed two bills on Monday during the tenth sitting of eleventh session, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The House considered the Sindh Environmental Protection Bill 2014 for 47 minutes and passed it after admitting two amendments proposed by a MQM lawmaker. The Assembly also took up the Sindh Healthcare Commission Bill 2013 and passed it after 20 minutes of deliberations.

Two lawmakers each from PML-F and MQM moved the House to discuss the worsening law and order situation in different districts of the province which was admitted for a discussion in a later sitting. The motion was moved after the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs opposed the admissibility of an adjournment motion jointly submitted by six MQM lawmakers regarding increasing incidents of kidnapping in Khairpur.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs also moved the House to defer the election of standing committees, which was carried. A female lawmaker of MQM withdrew her privilege motion for not summoning the assembly session in December and January following the opposition of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

The Chief Minister gave a policy statement on the reconstruction of Sukkur Barrage. The House took up four out of five calling attention notices (CANs) – two were submitted by MQM regarding the spread of Talibanization and reconstruction of Sukkur Barrage. A PML-F female lawmaker sought the details of security provided to journalists while a PTI female member drew the attention of the House to child labour.

An advisor to the Chief Minister replied to three of the four starred questions (requiring oral as well as written reply). Additionally, the members asked 20 supplementary questions. A short notice question of PTI lawmaker was also replied.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:

• The Sindh Assembly met for four hours and 15 minutes taking a three minute break.
• The sitting started at 1135 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 35 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was absent.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 40 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 55 minutes.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, PTI and PML-F attended the sitting.
• Forty-eight members were present at the outset while 71 at the adjournment. A maximum of 83 members were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.

Output

• The House considered the Sindh Environmental Protection Bill 2014 for 47 minutes and passed it after admitting two amendments proposed by a MQM lawmaker. The House also took up the Sindh Healthcare Commission Bill 2013 and passed it after 20 minutes of deliberations.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Two lawmakers each belonging to PML-F and MQM moved the House to discuss the worsening law and order situation in different districts of the province which was admitted for a discussion in a later sitting. It was moved after the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs opposed the admissibility of an adjournment motion submitted by six MQM lawmakers regarding increasing incidents of kidnapping in Khairpur.
• The House took up four of the five calling attention notices (CANs). Two CANs were submitted by MQM legislators regarding the spread of Talibanization and the reconstruction of Sukkur Barrage. A PML-F female lawmaker sought the details of the security provided to journalists while a PTI female member drew the attention of the House to child labour.
• The Chief Minister gave a policy statement on the reconstruction of Sukkur Barrage.
• An advisor to the Chief Minister Sindh replied to three of the four starred questions (requiring oral as well as written reply). Additionally, members asked 20 supplementary questions.
• A MQM female lawmaker withdrew her privilege motion against not summoning the assembly session in December and January following the opposition of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
• The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs also moved the House to defer the election of standing committees, stating all parliamentary parties were agreed on the delay. The motion was carried.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised three points of order which consumed three minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was available to observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN