ISLAMABAD, April 23, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh resumed the pre-budget discussion on Tuesday with five lawmakers taking part in it, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 40^th sitting of the fourth session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 45 minutes. However, the proceedings remained suspended for three minutes due to Azan break.
• The sitting started at 1500 hours against the scheduled time of 1300 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and seven minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 30 minutes.
• As many as 51 lawmakers (31%) were present at the commencement and 59 (35%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PTI, TLP and MMAP attended the sitting.
• As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House resumed pre-budget discussion and also debated the Budget Execution Reports for three quarters from April 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Five lawmakers – PPPPP (2), MMAP, MQM and PTI (one each) – participated in debate for an hour and 15 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• PTI, MQMP and GDA lawmakers protested on floor of the House for two minutes demanding to debate separately Budget Execution Reports and pre-budget matters. Later, they walked out of the House for 15 minutes.
• PPPP lawmakers also protested for 17 minutes during speech of a PTI lawmaker who criticized their leadership.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on April 24, 2019 (Wednesday) at 1300 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