Balochistan Assembly Adopts Three Resolutions

ISLAMABAD, January 10, 2017: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan adopted three resolutions, condemning Indian atrocities in the Occupied Kashmir, demanding uninterrupted gas supply in the province during winter season and calling for up-gradation of facilities at Zhob Airport, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The House also offered prayers for the victims of Gadani Shipbreaking Yard incident.

Following are key observations of the third sitting of 36th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Balochistan Assembly met for one hour and 43 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1652 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 14 minutes while the rest of proceedings were chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the proceedings.
  • Twenty-three lawmakers (34%) were present at the outset while 25 (37%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, NP, PML-N and PML-Q were present.
  • Two minority members attended the sitting.
  • Four members applied for leave.

Output

  • Tabled by Provincial Minister for Revenue, the House adopted a resolution to condemn atrocities of Indian Army in the Occupied Kashmir and violations on the Line of Control (LoC), urging the Federal Government to take up the matter with International Community to make India obey International Laws. Two lawmakers spoke on it for six minutes.
  • Tabled by a PkMAP lawmaker, the House adopted another resolution demanding the Federal Government to take effective measures against gas load-shedding as well as low tariff rates for gas consumers of the province. Six lawmakers debated the subject of resolution, consuming 57 minutes of the proceedings.
  • The House also adopted another resolution calling for up-gradation of facilities at Zhob Airport. The resolution was tabled by the Provincial Minister for Revenue and three lawmakers expressed their views on it, consuming 12 minutes of the proceedings.
  • The Chief Minister presented an audit report of the Auditor General of Pakistan for year 2015-16 in the House.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House deferred Question Hour due to absence of the mover.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers spoke on seven Points of Order consuming 21 minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
  • Attendance of Members was not made public.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.