ISLAMABAD, February 1, 2014: Balochistan Assembly passed six bills and adopted two resolutions in the 10th sitting of its 7th session on Saturday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet based on direct observation of the proceedings.

The House passed the Balochistan Chief Minister and Provincial Ministers Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; the Balochistan Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; the Balochistan Assembly Members Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; Balochistan Coastal Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2014; Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Balochistan Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Bill, 2014.

Four bills were passed unanimously while lawmakers belonging to opposition parties opposed the Balochistan Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Bill, 2014, calling it in contrast with the tribal norms of the society.

The Speaker directed the government to table the Balochistan Service Commission (Amendment) Bill again in a later sitting after accommodating reservations of the opposition members.

A resolution, jointly sponsored by two PML-N legislators, calling upon the government to take preventive measures for flood control in Dera Allah Yar, Sohbat Pur and Osta Muhammad, was taken up by the House and adopted subsequently. Moreover, an adjournment motion on the transfer of PTCL employees was merged into a resolution, relating to the reopening of a telephone exchange in Barkhan district, and was adopted unanimously.

As many as 41 MPAs were present at the outset, while 36 were there at the time of adjournment.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 36 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1544 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of 44 minutes.
• Forty one members were present at the outset while 36 were there at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The House had a prayer break of 36 minutes.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present during the entire sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and ANP were present.
• Two members applied for leave.
• Two minority members were present during the sitting.

Output

• The House passed the Balochistan Chief Minister and Provincial Ministers Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; the Balochistan Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; the Balochistan Assembly Members Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2014; Balochistan Coastal Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2014; Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Balochistan Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Bill, 2014.
• Four bills were passed unanimously while lawmakers belonging to opposition parties opposed the Balochistan Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Bill, 2014 calling it in contrast with the tribal norms of the society.
• The Speaker directed the government to table the Balochistan Service Commission (Amendment) Bill again in a later sitting after accommodating reservations of opposition members.
• A resolution, jointly sponsored by two PML-N legislators, calling upon the government to take preventive measures for flood control in Dera Allah Yar, Sohbat Pur and Osta Muhammad was taken up by the House, was adopted subsequently.
• An adjournment motion on transfer of PTCL employees was merged into a resolution regarding reopening of a telephone exchange in Barkhan district and was adopted unanimously.

Representation and Responsiveness

• There were no Starred Questions in the agenda for the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• Lawmakers spoke on seven points of order, consuming 23 minutes 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.