ISLAMABAD, August 27, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan on Saturday unanimously adopted two separate resolutions to condemn the anti-Pakistan statements of MQM’s Chief and India Prime Minister, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the only sitting of the 33^rd session:

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for four hours and eight minutes.
• The sitting started at 1143 hours against scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• Twenty-two (34%) lawmakers were present at the start and 17 (27%) at time of adjournment of sitting.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
• The Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition were absent.
• Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, PML and NP were present.
• One minority member attended the sitting.
• Thirteen members applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by the Provincial Home Minister, the House unanimously adopted a joint resolution to condemn the inflammatory statements of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day and urged the Federal Government to raise the issue with International Community including United Nations.
• A resolution jointly tabled by treasury lawmakers condemning the anti-Pakistan speech of MQM Chief Altaf Hussain and attack on Media Houses in Karachi was unanimously adopted by the House.

 Order and Institutionalizations

• Five Points of Order consumed 16 minutes of the proceeding.
• A JUI-F male lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1525. The Chair ordered the bell to be rung for one minute. However, the House resumed its proceedings after one minute as the quorum was found complete upon recounting.

Transparency

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

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