ISLAMABAD, July 23, 2020: The Sindh Assembly passed four government bills on Thursday amid opposition’s protest against hasty legislation, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during first sitting of the 11^th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 20 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1540 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire proceedings.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 50 minutes.
• As many as 52 MPAs (31%) were present at the outset and 32 (19%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, GDA, MMA and TLP attended the sitting.
• As many as three out of nine minority lawmakers were also present.

Output

• The House witnessed introduction and immediate passage of four government bills amid opposition’s protest and walkout. These bill were the Ziauddin Medical University (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Sindh Board of Technical Education and the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Education City (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Sindh Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Bill, 2019 and the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Bill, 2020.
• The Speaker announced Governor’s assent to the seven bills which were the Sir Cowasjee Jahangir Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Hyderabad Bill, 2019; the Aror University of Art, Architecture, Design and Heritage, Sukkur, Bill, 2019; the Stamp (Sindh Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Sindh Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Sindh COVID-19 Emergency Relief Bill, 2020; the Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Shaheed Allah Buksh Soomro University of Art, Design and Heritages Jamshoro Bill, 2020.
• The House witnessed presentation of Standing Committee’s report on the Sindh Teaching Hospitals (Establishment of Management Board) Bill, 2020.

.Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up four out of 34 starred questions while lawmakers also asked 19 supplementary questions.
• An adjournment regarding issue of fake license holding pilots in PIA was dropped due to mover’s absence.
• A privilege motion of an MMAP lawmaker against a government official was referred to the Special Committee.
• The House passed a motion to consider Private Members’ business in the next sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• A GDA lawmaker pointed the quorum at 1642 hours but it was ignored by the Chair.
• The lawmakers from GDA, PTI and MQM protested during the proceedings for 11 eleven minutes against hasty legislation. Later, they walked out from the House at 1751 hours and did not return till adjournment of the sitting.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on July 24, 2020 (Friday) at 1400 hours.

Transparency                                                              

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted