ISLAMABAD, September 21, 2016: The Provincial Assembly passed the Balochistan Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill, 2016 on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the 34^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for one hour and eight minutes.
• The sitting started at 1645 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting
• The post of Deputy Speaker is still lying vacant.
• The Speaker announced the names of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• Twenty-two lawmakers (49%) were present at the start and as many at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PML-N and PML were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Fifteen members applied for leave. The Speaker rejected two leave applications.

Output

• The House passed the Balochistan Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill, 2016, tabled by Advisor to CM on Parliamentary Affairs on behalf of the Minister for Health. Earlier, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Health and Population Welfare presented report of the Seesha smoking bill before the House.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Eight Starred Questions remained unaddressed due to the absence of relevant ministers.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on 11 Points of Order, consuming 31 minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Attendance of members was not made public.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by the Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.