ISLAMABAD, June 11, 2013: Starting an hour and 15 minutes late, the Sindh Assembly unanimously adopted three Resolutions during the sitting held on Tuesday. The session prorogued after three hours and 27 minutes. A female PPPP legislator sponsored a Resolution calling upon the Sindh Government to make DNA tests mandatory in rape cases. While another Resolution about the closure of CJ link canal and TP link canal was also adopted by the House. This Resolution was jointly submitted by the PPPP Members. An MQM lawmaker sponsored a Resolution condemning the statement made by the Chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Water and Power about discontinuation of electricity supply from national grid to Karachi.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 27 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1615 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 15 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting, while the Speaker remained absent.
• A total of 112 members were present at the outset while 98 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 136 members were present at one point of sitting.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for two hours and 13 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• Four new Members took oath.
• Six minority Members were present.
• Three Members applied for leave.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The Question Hour was not held during the sitting.

Output

• A female PPPP legislator sponsored a resolution calling the Sindh government to make DNA tests mandatory in rape cases. While another resolution about the closure of CJ link canal and TP link canal was adopted by the House. This Resolution was jointly submitted by PPPP Members.
• An MQM lawmaker sponsored a Resolution condemning the statement of made by the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power about discontinuation of electricity supply from national grid to Karachi.

• Four Ordinances were also presented in the House.

Order and Institutionalization

• Six Points of Order were raised during the sitting which consumed 30 minutes of the proceedings’ time.

 Transparency

• List of Business was available to the legislators, observers and others.

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