ISLAMABAD, June 24, 2015: The Balochistan Assembly passed the Balochistan Finance Bill 2015 and approved 54 demands for grants for various government departments on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Thirty-five members (54% of the total membership) were present at the start of the sitting and 38 (58%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting, while the Opposition Leader was absent.

The Chief Minister’s Advisor on Finance introduced the Balochistan Revenue Authority Bill 2015 and Balochistan Sales Tax on Services Bill 2015.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for 65 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1610 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• 35 members were present at the start of the sitting and 38 at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 40 members attended the proceedings.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Chief Minister was present for the entire duration.
• The Opposition Leader was absent.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, PML-N and PML were present.
• Two minority members attended the proceedings.
• Two members applied for leave.

Output

• The House passed Balochistan Finance Bill 2015 and approved 54 demands for grants.
• The Chief Minister’s Advisor on Finance introduced the Balochistan Revenue Authority Bill 2015 and Balochistan Sales Tax on Services Bill 2015.

Order and Institutionalization

• Four points of order consumed seven minutes of the sitting.
• The sitting witnessed a protest by female lawmakers against the remarks of the Chief Minister’s Advisor on Livestock.

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