ISLAMABAD, December 7, 2012: Starting an hour and 35 minutes late, the Sindh Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted resolution calling for rejecting the construction of Kalabagh Dam in the third sitting of 39th session. The resolution called upon the federal government to abandon the project of constructing the dam. The sitting, which met for two hours and 35 minutes, also adopted a supplementary resolution calling upon the Sindh government to declare former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto a symbol of democracy and properly maintain her mausoleum. The Question Hour was not held as the Chief Minister did not attend the sitting. Parliamentary leaders of all parties in the house attended the sitting.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1135 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings started late by an hour and 35 minutes
- The sitting was chaired by the Speaker and by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- All the parliamentary leaders were present during the sitting.
- Twenty-nine (17%) members were present at the start while 79 (47%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
- Five minority members attended the sitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Question Hour was not held.
Output
- Resolution seeking abandoning the construction of the Kalabagh Dam was unanimously passed by the house.
- A supplementary resolution calling upon the Singh Government to declare former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto a symbol of democracy and maintain her mausoleum properly was also unanimously adopted.
- The report of Public Accounts Committee for the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 (Audit General Reports 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09) was laid before the House and adopted.
- No bill appearing on the orders of the day was taken up.
Order and Institutionalization
- The House witnessed protests for 12 minutes during the debate on the construction of Kalabagh Dam.
- One Point of Order was raised.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were 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
