ISLAMABAD, December 5, 2016: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly could not ensure maximum strength of provincial lawmakers on Monday despite the break of 39 consecutive days in between the sittings, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

The proceedings started 25 minutes late with 32 members (26%) present at the start and 21 (17%) at the time of adjournment. The last sitting of the provincial assembly was held on October 26, 2016.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 14^th sitting of 21^st session:

Members’ Participation

• The KP Assembly met for two hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1525 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The House held tea and prayer break for 23 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 48 minutes while the rest of proceedings was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Leader of the House was not present.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 38 minutes.
• A maximum of 46 members (37%) were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of JI, PML-N and ANP were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.

Output

• Special Assistant to Chief Minister introduced the KP Boilers and Pressure Vessels Bill, 2016.
• The Annual Report of Provincial Ombudsman KP for the year 2015 was not presented.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Sponsored by a PPP lawmaker, the House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) on non-construction of roads in Chitral for the last three years despite allocation of funds in the Annual Development Plan.
• Another CAN regarding strict duty hours of security guards at educational institutions in the province was not taken up due to absence of the mover.
• Twelve out of 16 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by relevant authorities, while lawmakers also asked eight supplementary questions.
• The House discussed an adjournment motion on the absence of burn centers in major hospitals of the province. Later, the motion was referred to the relevant committee for further deliberation.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five Points of Order consumed 28 minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
•  The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the KP Assembly proceedings conducted by the United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted