ISLAMABAD, February15, 2013: Starting an hour and 25 minutes late, the ninth sitting of the 40^th session of the Sindh Assembly on Friday witnessed the passage of a treasury bill. Nineteen members (11%) were present at the start while 44 (27%) at the adjournment of the sitting as the house passed the Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences Bill 2013. The Chief Minister as well as the parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PMLQ and ANP did not attend the sitting. The House proceedings were suspended for five minutes as Quorum was pointed.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for 47 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1125 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings were delayed by an hour and 25 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for 30 minutes. The Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
• The Chief Minister and the parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PMLQ and ANP did not attend the sitting.
• The relevant minister was present.
• Nineteen (11%) members were present at the start while 44 (27%) were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum, 44 members were observed at one point of the sitting.

• The House proceedings were suspended for five minutes as Quorum was pointed by two members belonging to PMLF and one from NPP. After five minutes the House resumed and quorum was maintained.

• Three minority members attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• No question hour was held.

Output

• The Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences Bill 2013 was unanimously passed during the sitting.
• Two bills—The Sindh Arms Bill 2013 and The Sindh Public Procurement Amendment Bill 2013   were introduced and deferred.

Order and Institutionalization

• There were no points of order raised.

Transparency

• Orders of the day were available to the legislators, observers and others.
• The Members’ attendance was recorded and then made public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN