ISLAMABAD, January 26, 2012: The first sitting of the Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and five minutes with low attendance of Members.

Only 11 were present at the outset of the sitting while 10 present at the adjournment. A maximum of 13 MPAs were present at one point of the sitting.

All four Questions on the Agenda were taken up, and responded by the relevant minister.

Eight Points of Order were raised, which consumed 20 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling. Unless the Chair gives a formal ruling on a Point of Order, it does not contribute to any assembly output.

A Resolution supporting democracy was adopted by the House.

The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting. Only the parliamentary leader of the JUI (Ideological) attended the proceedings.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and five minutes.
• The sitting started at 1145 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1100 hours. The House proceedings started late by 45 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting.
• The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition were not present.
• Only the parliamentary leader of the JUI (Ideological) attended the sitting, while the leaders of Like Minded Group, PML ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PMLN were absent.
• Eleven Members (17% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 10 (16%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• One minority Member was present during the sitting.
• Seventeen Members applied for leave to be absent.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All four questions listed for the Question Hour were responded by the relevant minister.

Output

• A Resolution about “supporting democracy” was adopted by the House.
• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Eight Points of Order were raised, which consumed the 20 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum, visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting, was not pointed out by any of the Members.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development (CPD), a member organization of FAFEN