Sindh Assembly Condemns Arrest of Asif Ali Zardari

ISLAMABAD, June 12, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh adopted a resolution to condemn the arrest of former President Asif Ali Zardari by National Accountability Bureau, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during first sitting of the 5th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for an hour and 15 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1519 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present during the proceedings.
  • The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for an hour and nine minutes.
  • As many as 33 lawmakers (20%) were present at outset and 97 (59%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, TLP, PTI, and MMAP attended the sitting.
  • As many as eight out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output                                                                         

  • Moved by a PPPP lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to condemn arrest of Asif Ali Zardari by NAB authorities. As many as eight lawmakers belonging to PPPP spoke on it for 30 minutes.
  • The Chair did not announce Governor’s assent on the Sindh Prisons and Corrections Services Bill, 2019 appearing on agenda.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • An adjournment motion of PPPP lawmaker was not taken up due to his absence.
  • The Minister for Excise, Taxation & Narcotics Control answered all four starred questions during the proceedings. In addition, one supplementary question was asked.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers belonging to MQMP, PTI, TLP protested during the proceedings for 49 minutes against the government for not resolving the various issues being faced by people of Sindh.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on June 13, 2019 (Thursday) at 1400 hours.

Transparency                                                                   

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted