ISLAMABAD, April 14, 2015: The Sindh Assembly left 90% of its agenda unaddressed on Tuesday as the House continued to witness thin attendance of lawmakers, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 57 minutes behind the schedule with 35 members (21%) present at the start and 60 (36%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 73% of the proceedings’ time.

The House left five resolutions, five private motions, a legislative bill and seven amendments to the Rules of Procedure as the sitting was adjourned on the request of lawmakers to attend the death anniversary of late PPPP leader and former Sindh chief minister Syed Abdullah Shah.

The House took up an adjournment regarding delay in establishment of wheat procurement centers in the province. Two members spoke on the motion for 16 minutes. However, it was withdrawn by the mover upon receiving assurance from Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to resolve the issue at the earliest.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:

• The Sindh Assembly met for 82 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1057 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for 62 minutes.
• 35 members (21%) were present at the start and 60 (36%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 77 members (46%) attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PML-F were present.
• Two out of nine minority members were present.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The House did not take up the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University at Lyari Karachi (Amendment) Bill 2014.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Four out of six questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant departments. In addition, the lawmakers raised 21 supplementary questions.
• The House took up an adjournment motion regarding delay in establishment of wheat procurement centers in the province.

Order and Institutionalization

• Four points of order (POs) consumed five minutes of the sitting. The Speaker gave a ruling on two POs.

Transparency

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

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The 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.