Sindh Assembly Passes Finance Bill, Approves 149 Demands for Grants  

ISLAMABAD, June 26, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed the Sindh Finance Bill, 2016 and approved 149 Demands for Grants on Sunday during last (11th) sitting of its 25th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for six hours and 36 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1130 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Speaker chaired the sitting for four hours and eighteen minutes while rest of the proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
  • The Chief Minister was present for five hours and 23 minutes.
  • The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for six hours and five minutes.
  • The Finance Minister attended the entire sitting.
  • Thirty-eight lawmakers (23%) were present at the start and 85 (52%) at the end of the sitting.
  • The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PTI were present.
  • Five minority members were present.
  • One member applied for leave.

Output

  • Tabled by the Finance Minister, the House passed the Sindh Finance Bill, 2016.
  • The House continued discussion on Supplementary Budget Statement for Year 2015-16 and Budget Statement for Year 2016-17 and approved all 149 Demands for Grants. All Cut Motion (836) moved by Opposition parties on Supplementary Grants and Demands for Grants were rejected by the House.
  • The Finance Minister laid before the House the Schedule of Authorized Expenditure 2016-17 and the Supplementary Schedule of Authorized Expenditure 2015-16.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Nine Points Of Order consumed twelve minutes of the proceeding.
  • Opposition parties staged a protest for rejection of cut motions Demands for Grants. The instance of protest consumed eleven minutes of proceeding.

Transparency

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

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