Ten Lawmakers Debate Sindh Budget

ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2015: The Sindh Assembly continued debate on the Provincial Budget 2015-16 on Wednesday, as ten lawmakers spoke on it for 78% of the proceedings’ time, reports Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

The sitting started 76 minutes behind the schedule with 40 members (24%) present at the start and 47 (28%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.

Ten lawmakers – five belonging to PPPP, three MQM and one each of PML-F and PTI – expressed their views during the debate that took up 147 minutes.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and nine minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1116 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • 40 members (24%) were present at the start and 47 (28%) at the end of the proceedings.
  • A maximum of 54 members (32%) were present at one point of the sitting.
  • The Speaker chaired the sitting for 112 minutes.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the remaining time of the proceedings.
  • The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
  • The Finance Minister attended the entire sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PML-F, MQM, and PTI were present.
  • Three non-Muslim members were present.
  • One member applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Ten lawmakers – five belonging to PPPP, three MQM and one each of PML-F and PTI – spoke during the debate that took up nearly 78% (147 minutes) of the sitting’s duration.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Four points of order consumed four minutes of the sitting.
  • An MQM lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1200 hours, however, it was ignored by the Speaker. A total of 53 lawmakers (32%) were present at the time of pointation of the quorum.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the members, observers and the public.
  • Information on members’ attendance was also 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 – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.