ISLAMABAD, June 13, 2012:  Starting 30 minutes late, the fourth sitting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s 26^th session, which met for two hours and 26 minutes, continued debate on budget on Wednesday.

Ten MPAs spoke on the budget for 106 minutes (73% of sitting time).  The Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Speaker were not present.

A total of 33 Members (27% of total Membership – 124) were present at the start, while 44 (35%) were present when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 61 (49%) legislators were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Assembly met for two hours and 26 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1730 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The House proceedings started late by 30 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• All the parliamentary leaders were present
• A total of 33 Members (27% of total Membership – 124) were present at the start, while 44 (35%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two minority Members were present during the sitting.
• Four Members applied for leave to be absent.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Ten MPAs spoke on the budget – three each from MMAP and ANP and one each from PPPP, PMLN, PML and ANP, and an Independent – for 106 minutes (73% of sitting time).
  

Output

• No other agenda appeared on the Agenda.

Order and Institutionalization

• No Points of Order was raised during the sitting.

• A female PPPP Member staged a five-minute walkout as she was not given the floor to speak.

Transparency

• List of Business was available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

• Copies of the budget speech were available to the legislators.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by PAIMAN Alumni Trust, a member organization of FAFEN