ISLAMABAD, August 28, 2013: The Balochistan Assembly passed the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2013 during the sixth sitting of the fifth session on Wednesday.

A resolution by two NP legislators was adopted to call upon the federal government to review its decision of closing down National Commission for Human Development (NCHD).

Additionally, the House held a general discussion on the law and order situation in the province for two hour and 10 minutes. Two lawmakers each of PkMAP and BNP-M and a single member each of NP, MWM and JUI-F expressed their views on the matter. The Chief Minister spoke for 32 minutes in his closing remarks to conclude the debate.

The proceedings were chaired by the Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting. Two BNP-M legislators took oath during the sitting.

An ANP lawmaker moved a privilege motion against the MPAs of a political party for accusing him in a press conference of inflicting violence on their workers.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for four hours and 35 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1121 hours, witnessing a delay of 21 minutes against the scheduled start time of 1100 hours.
• A maximum 39 Members were present at the outset of the sitting and 27 at the end.
• The entire sitting was chaired by the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker was present.
• The Chief Minister attended the whole sitting while the Leader of Opposition was absent.
• The parliamentary leaders of ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PML were present.
• The Speaker administered the oath to two BNP-M MPAs.
• Three Members applied for leave.
• Three minority MPAs attended the sitting.

Output

•  The House passed the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2013.   The bill was moved by an NP lawmaker.
• A resolution by two NP legislators was adopted to call upon the federal government to review its decision of closing down the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and its offices.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A general discussion on the law and order situation in Balochistan lasted for two hours and 10 minutes. Two PkMAP and BNP-M members each spoke on the issue for 56 and 46 minutes respectively, followed by a single member each of  NP (37 minutes), MWM (22 minutes) and JUIF 17 (minutes). The Chief Minister spoke for 32 minutes in his closing remarks to conclude the debate.
• An ANP lawmaker moved a privilege motion against the MPAs of a political party for accusing him in a press conference of inflicting violence on their workers.

Order and Institutionalization

• MPAs spoke on nine Points Of Order consuming 14 minutes of the proceedings.
• No protests/boycotts /walkouts were recorded during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and others.

• Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD), a Member organization of FAFEN.