ISLAMABAD, June 25, 2014: The Balochistan Assembly approved 55 Demands for Grants during 5th sitting of its 12th session on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Leader of the Opposition along with seven other members belonging to JUI-F and ANP walked out of the House when the Speaker did not allow them to speak on the provincial budget 2014-15, as the debate on it had already been winded up in the previous sitting.
The House also offered fateha for a close relative of Advisor to Chief Minister on Finance who passed away recently.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Balochistan Assembly met for 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1223 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 23 minutes.
- Forty-one members were present at the start and 34 at the end of sitting. A maximum of 41 members were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for one minute.
- The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F, PML, PkMAP, NP and ANP were present.
- One member applied for leave.
- Two minority members were present during the sitting.
Output
- Advisor to Chief Minister for Finance laid annual budget expenditures for 2014-15.
- The House approved 55 Demands for Grants ‑ 46 demands for current and nine of development expenditures.
Order and Institutionalization
- Leader of the Opposition along with seven other members belonging to JUI-F and ANP walked out of the House when the Speaker did not allow them to speak on the provincial budget 2014-15, as the debate on it had already been winded up in the previous sitting.
- One point of order consumed one minute of the proceedings.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD), a Member organization of FAFEN
