ISLAMABAD, March 6, 2015: The Balochistan Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday during the 5^th sitting of its ongoing 16^th session for shifting the head offices of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) from Karachi to Quetta, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

The sitting started 68 minutes behind the schedule with 22 lawmakers (34%) present at the start and 32 (49%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting, while the Opposition Leader was absent.

Tabled by PML-N female lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution for shifting the head offices of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) from Karachi to Quetta. The House debated the resolution for 44 minutes.  Three lawmakers of PkMAP, two each of PML-N and NP and one of ANP took part in the debate.

The House did not take up a resolution on the agenda due to the absence of its mover – a JUI-F lawmaker. The resolution demanded to set up Levies check posts in rural areas on modern lines to counter terrorism and provide compensation and jobs to the bereaved families of the martyred officials.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 57 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1608 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• Twenty-two lawmakers (34%) were present at the start of the sitting and 32 (49%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 40 (62%) members were present at the time of adjournment.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was absent.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting, while the Opposition Leader was absent.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML, ANP, BNP and PkMAP attended the sitting.
• Two minority members were present.
• One member applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by PML-N female lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution for shifting the head offices of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) from Karachi to Quetta.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Three out of five starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up while two questions remained unaddressed due to the absence of movers.
• The House took up an adjournment motion moved by the JUI-F lawmaker regarding consideration by the authorities to wind up the eye department of a hospital in Quetta.

Order and Institutionalization

• Four points of order consumed 13 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed.

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.

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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.