ISLAMABAD, April 21, 2017: The Balochistan Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to express full confidence on Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in the wake of Apex Court’s verdict on Panama Papers’ scandal during Friday’s sitting, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are key observations of proceedings during the only sitting of the Assembly’s requisitioned session:

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 36 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1721 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Chief Minister attended the entire proceedings.
• The Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• Twenty-eight lawmakers (47%) were present at the outset and 24 (37%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of NP, PML-N, PkMAP, PML and ANP were present.
• One minority member also attended the sitting.

Output

• Tabled by Leader of the House (Chief Minister) on behalf of all political parties (both government and opposition), the House unanimously adopted a resolution expressing confidence on Prime Minister of Pakistan in the wake of Apex Court’s verdict on Panama Papers’ scandal. Ten lawmakers expressed their views on the resolution for an hour and 18 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on two Points of Order consuming four minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Attendance of Members was not made public.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.