ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: The third sitting of the Balochistan Assembly lasted only 52 minutes with low attendance of Members. There were 16 Members at the start and only 13 at the end of the sitting.

None of the four Questions on the Orders of the Day were taken up, as the prime mover did not attend the proceedings.

Seven Points of Order were raised, which consumed the entire sitting’s time. No Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling. Unless the Chair gives a formal ruling on a Point of Order, it does not contribute to any assembly output.

The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting. The parliamentary leaders of the ANP and JUI (Ideological) attended the proceedings.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for 52 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1155 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1100 hours. The House proceedings were delayed by 55 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition were not present.
• Only the Parliamentary Leaders of the ANP and JUI (Ideological) was present, while the leaders of Like Minded Group, PML, BNPA, JUI, NP and PMLN were absent.
• Sixteen Members (24% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 13 (20%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The four Questions on the agenda were not taken up by the House.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• Seven Points of Order were raised, which consumed the entire sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

• Two Independent Members and a Member of the Like Minded Group staged a walkout protesting against the judicial killings of Baloch people in Balochistan. The walkout lasted three minutes.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting. However, the lack of Quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members.

After successfully observing proceedings of the National Assembly, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has started observation of the provincial assemblies – Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan – and the Senate.This daily factsheet is based on FAFEN’s direct observation of the fourth sitting of the 29th session of the Balochistan Assembly.These reports will be released on the day the sittings are held to provide media and other interested stakeholders vital statistics about the Assembly proceedings to encourage informed public discourse on its performance.

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