ISLAMABAD, June 7, 2021: The Sindh Assembly passed a government bill and consumed one-third of the sitting time on points of order, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during the eighth sitting of the 21st session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for 52 minutes.
• The sitting started at 03:10 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
• The speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The deputy speaker was also present.
• The leader of the House (chief minister) was absent while the opposition leader attended the sitting for 35 minutes.
• Thirty-one legislators (18 percent) were present at the outset and 51 (30 percent) at the end of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PTI, PPPP, MQMP, TLP and MMAP were present while the leader of GDA did not attend the sitting.
• Six out of nine minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• Minister for parliamentary affairs introduced the Sindh (Repeal of Police Act, 1861 and Revival of Police Order 2002) (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was later passed by the House.
• Minister for parliamentary affairs laid the budget execution report of third quarter ended on March 31, 2021.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Out of seven starred questions, the House took up one related to the Department of Wildlife. Besides, the lawmakers also asked two supplementary questions.

• Four CANs remained unaddressed as their movers were protesting in the House at time of their consideration while one CAN was not taken up due to mover’s absence.
• The House did not take up an adjournment motion due to absence of relevant mover. It was regarding hike in prices of essential medicines.
• A privilege motion of a PTI lawmaker was not taken up.

Order and Institutionalization

• Four lawmakers spoke on a points of order (POs) for 17 minutes mainly related to protest in Bahria Town, Karachi.
• MQM and PTI lawmakers protested for 11 minutes when the speaker disallowed them to move a resolution condemning protest in Bahria Town. Later, both parties walked out from the House at 03:40 pm, however, the PTI lawmakers returned at 03:57 pm.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 02:00 pm.

 Transparency

• ‘List of Business’ 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 Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted