ISLAMABAD, June 8, 2012:  The Provincial Minister for Finance presented the budget during the first sitting of the 26^th session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday.

Starting 25 minutes late, the sitting lasted two hours. The Finance Minister presented the budget in an hour and 45 minutes speech. The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.

A total of 58 Members (46% of total Membership – 124) were present at the start, while 98 (79%) were present when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 102 (82%) were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.

The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML and PPPS attended the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Assembly met for two hours.
• The sitting started at 1525 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1500 hours. The House proceedings started late by 25 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of the PPPP, PML and PPPS attended the sitting.
• A total of 58 Members (46% of total Membership – 124) were present at the start, while 98 (79%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two minority Members were present during the sitting.
• One Member applied for leave to be absent.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Provincial Minister for Finance presented the budget in an hour and 45 minutes speech.

Output

• No other agenda appeared on the Agenda.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two Points of Order consumed six minutes.
• There were no instances of protest, boycotts or walkouts.

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