Sindh Assembly Passes Bill to Repeal National Accountability Ordinance

ISLAMABAD, July 3, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed three government bills on Monday including the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Sindh Repeal Bill, 2017, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during first and last sitting of the 34th session:

 Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 50 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1532 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
  •  The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 12 minutes.
  • Fifty-six (34%) members were present at outset while 72 (43%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML-F and PTI attended the sitting.
  • Five minority members were present.

Output

  • The House passed the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Sindh Repeal Bill, 2017, the Sindh New Captive Power Plants Subsidy Bill, 2017 and the Sindh Companies Profits (Workers Participation) (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
  • The Speaker announced the assent of the Governor to the Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jeelani Institute of Medical Sciences Gambat (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Sukkur IBA University Bill, 2017.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up four starred questions which were responded to by the relevant ministers. The lawmakers asked 26 supplementary questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Two Points of Order consumed as many minutes of the proceedings.
  • The opposition lawmakers protested against repealing NAB Ordinance for 32 minutes. Later, they walked out from the proceedings at 1807 hours and did not return till adjournment of sitting.

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 Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.