Sindh PA Skips Regular Agenda, Adopts Supplementary Resolution

ISLAMABAD, October 15, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Tuesday left its entire agenda unaddressed except question hour and unanimously adopted a supplementary resolution to pay tribute to Sufi Scholar Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 14th sitting of the sixth session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for two hours and 21 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1545 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 29 minutes while rest of the sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
  • The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the proceedings.
  • As many as 45 MPAs (27%) were present at the outset and 40 (24%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PTI, MQMP, TLP, MMA and GDA attended the proceedings.
  • Six out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

  • The House unanimously adopted a supplementary resolution to pay tribute to Sufi Saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. As many as nine lawmakers spoke on it for 55 minutes.
  • The House did not consider any other agenda item including an Adjournment Motion, five private resolutions, two private members’ bills, a report of the standing committee, two private motions and 28 notices to amend the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Minister for Health responded to three out of eight starred questions while the lawmakers asked 19 supplementary questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A lawmaker spoke on a point of order for one minute.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on October 18, 2019 (Friday) at 1430 hours.

Transparency

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

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