ISLAMABAD, September 22, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan on Thursday adopted a motion to declare the seat of a PML-N’s Minority member vacant due to his absence from the House for 40 consecutive days, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 2^nd sitting of the 34^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for 39 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1803 hours against the scheduled time of 1700 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
• The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• Twenty-three lawmakers (49%) were present at the start and 28 (41%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PkMAP, MWM and PML were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Six members applied for leave.

Output

• A resolution jointly tabled by NP lawmakers regarding permanent employment of the staff of People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) Balochistan, working in Basic Health Units and district offices was withdrawn after the assurance given by the Minister for Health.
• The Chairman Standing Committee on Services, General Administration and Development (S&GAD) presented a committee report regarding the rent of Balochistan Houses’ rooms in Islamabad and Karachi before the House. The House accepted the report with amendments.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Tabled by a PML-N lawmaker, the House adopted a motion under Rule 52 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business with majority votes. This motion was about declaring the seat of a PML-N’s Minority member, Santosh Kumar vacant due to his absence from the House for 40 consecutive days.
• The House deferred five Starred Questions till next sitting as their replies from the relevant departments were not received.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on four Points of Order consuming 10 minutes of the proceedings.

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.