ISLAMABAD, May 28, 2015: Low attendance persisted in Balochistan Assembly on Thursday as the House adopted a resolution demanding an increase in the job quota for the province, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 45 minutes behind the schedule with 17 lawmakers (26%) present at the start and 19 (29%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for the entire duration.

Eight lawmakers (three from JUI-F, two each from NP and PkMAP and one belonging to PML) spoke on the adopted resolution for 40 minutes.

The Chair admitted an adjournment motion (AM) on poor sanitary conditions in Quetta and merged it with another AM on water shortage in the district.

Another AM on free-of-cost allotment of 200 acres for a sub-campus of Balochistan University was not admitted.

The lawmakers raised seven points of order that consumed 20% of the proceedings’ time.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for one hour and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1645 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• 17 lawmakers (26%) were present at the start and 19 (29%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 28 (43%) members were present at one point of the sitting.
• The sitting was entirely chaired by a member of the Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for the entire duration.
• The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and ANP were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Seven members applied for leave.

Output

• The House adopted a resolution demanding an increase in the job quota for the province, especially for engineers.
• Eight lawmakers (three from JUI-F, two each from NP and PkMAP and one belonging to PML) spoke on the resolution for 40 minutes.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Only one out of six starred questions on the agenda was taken up during the sitting. Additionally, one supplementary question was raised on the floor of the House.
• The Chair admitted an adjournment motion (AM) on poor sanitary conditions in Quetta and merged it with another AM on water shortage in the district.
• Another AM on free-of-cost allotment of 200 acres for a sub-campus of Balochistan University was not admitted.

Order and Institutionalization

• Seven points of order consumed 18 minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and the public.
• Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.