ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2014: The provincial lawmakers began general discussion on the budget 2014-15 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly during 2nd sitting (morning) of its 14th session on Tuesday, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
The debate on budget was opened by the Leader of the Opposition who spoke for 40 minutes. In addition, two members of PTI participated in the debate for 28 minutes followed by one member each of PPPP (28 minutes), ANP (17 minutes), PML-N (12 minutes) and QWP (11 minutes).
Thirty-one members were present at the outset while maximum 70 were there at the end of the sitting. The Speaker chaired the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings.
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:
- The KP Assembly met for two hours and 25 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1045 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of 45 minutes.
- The House had Azan break of one minute.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister was present for two hours and 10 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- Thirty-one members were present at the outset while maximum 70 at the end of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leader of AJIP did not attend the sitting.
- The Finance Minister attended the entire sitting.
- Three minority members attended the sitting.
- Three members applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The debate on budget was opened by the Leader of the Opposition who spoke for 40 minutes. In addition, two members of PTI participated in the budget debate for 28 minutes followed by one member each of PPPP (28 minutes), ANP (17 minutes), PML-N (12 minutes) and QWP (11 minutes).
Order and Institutionalization
- No Points of Order were raised during the sitting.
- There was no instance of boycott, walkout or protest during the sitting.
Transparency:
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was not available to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of KP Assembly proceedings conducted by PAIMAN, a member organization of FAFEN
