ISLAMABAD, June 14, 2014: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance presented the Annual Budget 2014-15 with a total outlay of Rs 404.80 billion during the first sitting of 14th session, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
The Minister for Finance addressed the house for an hour and 44 minutes and said the outlay of this fiscal budget is 18% higher than the outgoing fiscal year.
The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting while the Speaker presided over the proceedings.
The Opposition members staged a protest during the speech of the Minister for Finance and walked out of the House two minutes before the end of the sitting. They termed the raise in salaries and pensions insufficient and opposed supplementary budget for year 2013-14.
A newly-elected PML-N member took oath while the panel of chairpersons was announced for the current session.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:
- The KP Assembly met for two hours and one minute.
- The sitting started at 1608 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of eight minutes.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the parliamentary leaders of all parties attended the sitting.
- Seventy members (56%) were present at the outset and 95 (76%) at the end of the sitting.
- Three minority members attended the sitting.
- Three members applied for leave.
Output
- The Finance Bill 2014-15 was presented in the House. The Minister for Finance presented the annual budget statement.
Order and Institutionalization:
- No Points of Order were raised during the sitting.
- The Opposition members staged a protest during the speech of the Minister for Finance and walked out of the House two minutes before the end of the sitting. They termed the raise in salaries and pensions insufficient and opposed supplementary budget for year 2013-14.
Transparency:
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was not available to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of KP Assembly proceedings conducted by PAIMAN, a member organization of FAFEN
