ISLAMABAD, April 8, 2022: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan adopted a resolution on Friday demanding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the local bodies’ elections in the province for six months, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the first sitting of 52nd session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 03:50 pm against the scheduled time of 03:00 pm.
• The deputy speaker presided over the entire proceedings in the absence of speaker.
• The leader of the house (chief minister) was not present.
• The leader of the opposition attended the entire sitting.
• As many as 15 (23 percent) legislators were present at the start and 23 (35 percent) at the end of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, BNP-A, BAP, ANP, JWP, PNP and HDP attended the sitting.
• All three minority members were present.

 Output

• Jointly sponsored by BNP-A and BAP lawmakers, the House adopted a resolution demanding the ECP to postpone the local bodies’ elections in the province for six months and complete the process of delimitation of constituencies. On March 29, the ECP announced to hold local bodies elections in Balochistan on May 29, 2022 except in Quetta and Lasbella.
• The Chair deferred a resolution due to the absence of mover which was regarding induction of local candidates in nursing departments.
• Tabled by a lawmaker belonging to BNP-M, the House rejected a resolution with majority vote which was about increase in share of Balochistan from 25 percent to 50 percent in Reko Diq Project. Fifteen lawmakers voted in favor of resolution while 21 legislators opposed it.

 Representation and Responsiveness 

• The House did not observe question hour due to absence of relevant ministers.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eleven lawmakers spoke on points of order for 55 minutes which were related to verdict of apex court on ruling of deputy speaker National Assembly.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, April 11, 2022 at 01:00 pm.

Transparency

• ‘List of Business’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the observers and media.

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