ISLAMABAD, November 22, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh deferred discussion on water-related problems in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Thursday.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during ninth sitting of the third session:

Members’ Participation

• The Assembly met for an hour and 52 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1420 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and five 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 an hour and 48 minutes.
• As many as 51 lawmakers (30%) were present at the outset and 53 (32%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM-P and MMAP attended the sitting.
• As many as six out of nine minority lawmakers were present during the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Ministers for Works and Services, and Prisons responded to two Call Attention Notices (CANs) regarding bad condition of Maripur Road and distribution of wheat in accordance with NADRA’s list in Thar.
• The House left three CANs unaddressed due to absence of the relevant ministers.

• An MQM lawmaker withdrew his Adjournment Motion (AM) regarding unannounced load-shedding in Karachi as the matter had already been discussed during the ongoing session.

• The Chair deferred a scheduled discussion on three AMs regarding unjust water distribution in Karachi and shortage of water in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas till Friday November 23, 2018. These AMs were moved by MQM-P lawmakers.
• The House took up eight out of 11 Starred Questions relating to the ministry of Forest and Wildlife. The lawmakers asked 31 supplementary questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised three points of order consuming 13 minutes of the proceedings.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on November 23, 2018 at 1000 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 Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.