The 30th session of the Balochistan Assembly met for six sittings which lasted nine hours and 12 minutes, with an average duration of an hour and 32 minutes each sitting. Each sitting started late, with an average delay of 44 minutes.

There was a wide variation in the duration of each sitting – the longest spanning three hours and 18 minutes and the shortest lasting only 25 minutes.

The Quorum, visibly lacking throughout the session, was pointed out only once by a PPPP legislator. Since the Balochistan Assembly Secretariat does not provide information to media and public on attendance of Members, FAFEN conducts a headcount of Members at the start and close of each sitting and documents the actual time spent on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

The attendance of Members was observed to be low during the session, with an average 13 Members present at the outset and 12 at the end of each sitting. The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the entire session. The Speaker presided over the House for 41% of the total session time, the Deputy Speaker 36% and the Panel of Chairpersons 24%.

As many as 45% of the Members – 29 – participated in the session either by bringing agenda items on the Order of the Day or by actually participating in the debates on the floor of the House.

The PML Members had the highest participation in proportion to their Membership, with 80% of them taking part in the proceedings, followed by Like-Minded Group (54%), BNPA 43%, PPPP 40%, JUI 39% and ANP 33%. A PMLN Member, along with another representing PML (Opted for Opposition Benches), did not participate in the proceedings while among single-Member parties, the JUI and NP Members took part.

A total of 22 Starred questions (requiring oral answers) – 3.4 questions per sitting – was raised during the session. Eighteen Starred questions were taken up by the House and six Supplementary questions were asked.

Fifty-five Points of Orders (an average of nine per sitting) consumed 235 minutes (43%) of the session time.

The session witnessed two walkouts and a boycott. During the 2nd sitting, a PPPP Member staged a five-minute walk out after he was not allowed to speak on a Point of Order. The Members of BNPA, PPPP and PML boycotted the 4th sitting over the killing of an MPA’s family members. During the 6th sitting, a JUI Member walked out to protest the killing of Maulana Abdul Ghani in Chaman.

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