ISLAMABAD, August 27, 2013: The Balochistan Assembly passed the Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2013 during the fifth sitting of the fifth session on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister tabled the bill during the sitting which lasted five hours and ten minutes. The   bill amended the section 25 of the local government law substituting the words ‘non party’ with ‘party’.

The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Leader of the Opposition as well as the parliamentary leaders of ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PML attended the proceedings.

Two adjournment motions were raised in the House on breaking out of cholera in Zhob and the law and order situation in Balochistan. Eight MPAs spoke on the motions consuming one hour and 47 minutes.

A newly-elected MPA took oath. Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for five hours and ten minutes. The House took a break of one hour and 17 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1201 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and one minute against the scheduled start time of 1100 hours.
• A maximum 41 Members were present at the outset of the sitting and 24 at the end.
• The entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PML were present.
• A newly-elected MPA took oath.
• Two Members applied for leave.
• Three minority MPAs attended the sitting.

Output

•  The House passed Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2013.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Two adjournment motions were taken up in the House regarding breaking out of cholera in Zhob and the law and order situation in Balochistan.

•  Order and Institutionalization

• MPAs spoke on 11 points of order consuming 45 minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

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