ISLAMABAD, May 20, 2015: The Sindh Assembly passed three government bills on Wednesday as the House continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 68 minutes behind the schedule with 22 members present at the start and 49 at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader were both absent during the sitting.

The passed bills included the Sindh Service Tribunals (Third Amendment) Bill 2015, the Barret Hodgson International University at Karachi Bill 2015 and the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (Amendment) Bill 2015.

The House also adopted a resolution that urged the government to incorporate lawmakers’ recommendations on the upcoming provincial budget. The Chair announced the Sindh Governor’s assent on eight legislative bills.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 46 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1108 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• 22 members (13%) were present at the start while 49 (29%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 57 (34%) lawmakers were present at one point of time.
• The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N and PTI were present.
• Three out of nine minority members attended the sitting.
• Two members applied for leave.

Output

• The House passed the Sindh Service Tribunals (Third Amendment) Bill 2015, the Barret Hodgson International University at Karachi Bill 2015 and the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (Amendment) Bill 2015.
• The House also adopted a resolution that urged the government to incorporate lawmakers’ recommendations on the upcoming provincial budget.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up all the six questions appearing on the agenda.
• The lawmakers raised 17 supplementary questions during the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five points of order consumed seven minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the members, observers and the public.
• Information on members’ attendance was available to the observers and the public.

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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.