ISLAMABAD, May 17, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan on Tuesday held general discussion on development of education in the province during sixth sitting of its ongoing 28^th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Some key observations are as follows:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 58 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1640 hours against scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• Seventeen (27%) lawmakers were present at start and eight (12%) at the time of adjournment of sitting.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
• The Chief Minister was absent.
• The Opposition leader attended the sitting for five minutes.
• Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP and PML were present.
• One minority member attended the sitting.
• Four members applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by the Minister for Education, the House adopted a joint resolution for provision of development funds in order to complete various schemes. Five members spoke on it consuming 43 minutes of proceeding.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Following a motion moved by Education Minister, the House held general discussion on development of education in the province. Eleven MPs took part in the debate consuming an hour and 43 minutes of the proceeding.

Order and Institutionalization

• Members spoke on four Points of Order consuming 15 minutes of the proceeding.
• The opposition parties walked out of the House at 1645 hours on the issue of corruption in the province and did not return till the adjournment of sitting.
• A JUI-F lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1926 hours following which the Speaker ordered the bell to be rung for five minutes. However, the quorum fell short upon recounting which led to adjournment of the sitting.

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 proceeding conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.