More than half the members in each assembly refrained from participating in budget discussions as the annual budgets for the Fiscal Year 2015-16 were approved in all provincial legislatures amid protests and numerous cut motions from the opposition parties against government demands for grants, says Free and Fair Election Network in its comparative budget session report.

Punjab Assembly started its Budget Session on June 10 followed by Sindh Assembly on June 13 and Balochistan Assembly on June 17, 2015. FAFEN could not observe the budget session of KP Assembly due to accreditation issues.

The lawmakers in Sindh Assembly debated the budget for 63% of the session time, while their counterparts in Punjab debated the same for 55% of the session time. On the other hand, the debate in Balochistan Assembly took up 54% of the session time. The Punjab Assembly passed the Finance Bill on June 24 during the 11th sitting of its 15th session while the Balochistan Assembly also passed Finance Bill on the same date during 5th sitting of its 19th session. Likewise, Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Finance Bill on June 25 during its 10th (last) sitting.

The Sindh government moved 59 demands for grants and 50 supplementary demands, followed by the Balochistan government which raised 54 demands for grant and 27 supplementary demands. Similarly, the Punjab government raised 43 demands for grants and 40 supplementary demands.

Opposition legislators in all provincial assemblies moved a significant number of cut motions to express their disapproval towards the government’s demands for grants. The lawmakers in Sindh Assembly raised 572 cut motions – the highest number against demand for grants 2015-16 followed by the Punjab Assembly with six cut motions. For the supplementary demand for grants, 132 cut motions were raised in Sindh Assembly followed by only four in Punjab Assembly. The Balochistan government faced no resistance as MPAs did not move a single cut motion, as was the case during budgets of last two financial years.

In addition to the passage of Finance Bills, active legislation was only witnessed in Punjab Assembly as it witnessed passage of nine other bills. The Balochistan Assembly passed two bills in addition to the Finance Bill, while the Sindh Assembly did not pass any bill except for the Finance Bill.

The budget session of the Punjab Assembly spanned over 13 sittings, which consumed 42 hours and 17 minutes. The Sindh Assembly remained in session for ten sittings, consuming 39 hours and 21 minutes whereas the Balochistan Assembly consumed 14 hours and 12 minutes for a total of six sittings.

As many as 79 (47%) out of 167 members in the Sindh Assembly debated the budget, followed by 27 (42%) out of 65 MPAs in Balochistan Assembly and 133 (36%) out of 368 in the Punjab Assembly.

Female legislators were more active during the budget debates as compared to their male counterparts, as a higher ratio of women lawmakers (with regards to their representation in respective legislatures) participated during the budget debates. Non-Muslim members also participated actively in the budget debates.

The budgets in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies were presented by their respective Finance Ministers/Advisors. The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) in Balochistan Assembly attended all six sittings, while the Chief Minister Sindh attended seven out of 10 sittings. The Chief Minister of Punjab was observed to be present in only two out of 13 sittings.

Lawmakers in Punjab Assembly were the only ones interested in questioning the government as MPAs submitted35 starred and five un-starred questions. In addition, 32 supplementary questions were also asked. Out of the 35 starred questions, only 14 (40%) were taken up.

The other provincial assemblies-Sindh and Balochistan- did not witness treasury’s oversight through this intervention of submitting questions.

The MPAs in all legislatures exercised controlled use of POs. Lawmakers in Punjab Assembly raised 49 POs consuming 1% of the session time; Sindh MPs raised 63 POs consuming 5% of the session time while the Balochistan Assembly consumed 6% of the session time on 16 POs raised by its lawmakers.

To download complete report, click here