ISLAMABAD, May 8, 2012: Starting 120 minutes behind schedule, the ninth sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 35^th session, which met for three hours and 45 minutes on Tuesday, debated the law and order in the province for 40 minutes.

The sitting was marked by low attendance – 20 legislators were present at the start while 63 were there when it was adjourned. Speaking for two hours, the Chief Minister presented a report on the four-year performance of the provincial government before the session was prorogued. 

The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, NPP and ANP were present.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 45 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1130 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 0930 hours. The proceedings were delayed by 120 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 210 minutes while the remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for three hours and seven minutes.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, NPP and ANP were present while those of PMLF, PML (F-B) and PML did not attend the sitting.
• Twenty (12% of 165) Members were present at the start while 63 (38%) were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 80 Members were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
• Five minority Members were present during the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All four questions appearing in the Agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant minister. One Supplementary question was also asked.
• Seven Members debated the law and order in the province for 40 minutes.
• The Chief Minister presented the four-year performance report of the government. He spoke for two hours.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• Ten Points of Order consumed 25 minutes of the sitting time. None of them attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the MPAs.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN