ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2014: The Sindh Assembly greeted former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani during his visit to the House and lauded his services for democracy during 3rd sitting of 13th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
The former Prime Minister was given rousing welcome on his arrival at the visitor’s gallery along with some former lawmakers. Nine PPPP lawmakers followed by MQM (4), PML-F (2) and PTI (one) during their welcome speeches eulogized his services during the tenure of premiership.
Starting 40 minutes behind schedule, the House held debate on provincial budget 2014-15 for an hour and 19 minutes which was participated by lawmakers, one each of PML-F, MQM and PPPP.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings
- The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1040 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of 40 minutes.
- The Speaker chaired the sitting for three hours and 20 minutes while a member of panel of the chairpersons presided over the proceedings for 15 minutes.
- The Chief Minister and Finance Minister attended the sitting for 63 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and 48 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, PTI, PML-F and MQM attended the sitting.
- Twenty-six members were present at the outset, 61 at the adjournment, while a maximum of 96 at one point during the sitting.
- Five minority members attended the sitting.
- Four members applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Nine lawmakers of PPPP followed by MQM (4), PML-F (2) and PTI (one) delivered welcome speeches in the honor of former Prime Minister during his visit to visitors’ gallery.
- The House held debate on provincial budget 2014-15 for an hour and 19 minutes, which was participated by lawmakers, one each of PML-F, MQM and PPPP.
- The House took up three of six starred questions (requiring oral as well as written replies) on the agenda which were responded to by the relevant departments. The members asked 16 supplementary questions as well.
Order and Institutionalization
- No point of order was raised during the sitting.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was available to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN
