ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The second sitting of the Balochistan Assembly met for three hours and 18 minutes with low attendance of Members. A total of 11 Members at the outset and nine at the end of the sitting were present.

Six Points of Order consumed 20 minutes of the sitting time. None of them attracted the Chair’s formal ruling. Unless the Chair gives a formal ruling on a Point of Order, it does not contribute to any assembly output.

The House adopted a Resolution on providing security to gas pipeline and stopping the unscheduled gas load shedding.

The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting. The parliamentary leader of the JUI (Ideological) attended the proceedings.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for three hours and 18 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1142 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1100 hours. The House proceedings started late by 42 minutes.
• The entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition were absent.
• Only the Parliamentary Leader of the JUI (Ideological) was present, while the leaders of Like Minded Group, PML, ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PMLN were absent.
• Only eleven Members (17% of total Membership – 65) were present at the start and nine (14%) when the sitting was adjourned.
• A maximum of 14 (22%) Members were present at any one point of the sitting.
• Nine Members applied for leave to be absent from the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All three questions present on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant Ministry.
• Moved by a PML Member, the House adopted a Resolution regarding the provision of security to gas pipeline and stopping the unscheduled gas load shedding.
• An Adjournment Motion regarding the load shedding of the electricity was moved by a PML Legislator.
• A total of 14 Members debated on the Adjournment Motion.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Six Points of Order consumed 20 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

• A PPPP Member staged a walkout when the Speaker did not allow him to speak on a Point of Order.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The lack of Quorum was pointed out by a PPPP Member. The bells were rung for five minutes and the sitting was suspended for 30 minutes.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development (CPD), a member organization of FAFEN