ISLAMABAD, April 8, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh left most of its agenda unaddressed amid protest by opposition parties during fifth sitting of its 24th session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Sindh Assembly met for 117 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1114 hours against its scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 95 minutes while rest of the proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- 34 (21%) lawmakers were present at outset and 50 (31%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML-F, PML-N and PTI were present.
- Three minority members attended the sitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The government orally responded to four out of five starred questions appearing on the agenda. The lawmakers also asked 20 supplementary questions.
- Three out of five Calling Attention Notices (CANs) were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers on floor of the House. These notices were about shortage of water in various districts of Karachi, clogged gutters and overflowing sewerage lines in Malir and non-functional schools in district Thatta.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on four points of order consuming six minutes of the proceeding.
- Members belonging to MQM protested within the House for 12 minutes against the attitude of the Speaker for no allowing them to speak. MQM members also staged a token walkout on same issue.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to observers and media.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.
