Balochistan Assembly Condemns Remarks against Armed Forces

ISLAMABAD, May 2, 2015: The Balochistan Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on Saturday to condemn MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s recent speech against the armed forces, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Four members (one each from PML-N, JUI-F, PML and PkMAP) spoke on the resolution, which was tabled by the Home Minister, for 19 minutes.

The Chair admitted an adjournments motion regarding dilapidated electricity infrastructure in Panjgur and decided to discuss the issue in the next sitting.

The Minister for Services and General Administration introduced the Balochistan Assembly Members’ Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2015.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

 Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 43 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1132 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
  • 23 lawmakers (35%) were present at the start and 26 (40%) at the end of the sitting.
  • A maximum of 32 members (49%) attended the sitting.
  • The entire sitting was chaired by Deputy Speaker.
  • The Leader of the House was present.
  • The Opposition Leader was absent.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PML and ANP were present.
  • Two minority members attended the sitting.
  • Two members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House unanimously adopted a supplementary resolution tabled by the Home Minister to condemn the MQM chief’s speech against the armed forces.
  • Four members (one each from PML-N, JUI-F, PML and PkMAP) spoke on the resolution for 19 minutes.
  • The Minister for Services and General Administration introduced the Balochistan Assembly Members’ Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Chair admitted an adjournments motion regarding the dilapidated electricity infrastructure in Panjgur and decided to discuss the issue in the next sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Thirteen points of order (POs) consumed 55 minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
  • Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

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The 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.