ISLAMABAD, April 30, 2018: The Balochistan Assembly on Monday passed seven bills and referred one legislative proposal to the relevant Standing Committee, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth (last) sitting of the Assembly’s 51^st session:

 Members’ Participation 

• The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 47 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1719 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 41 minutes while rest of the proceedings were chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 41 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 16 lawmakers (25%) were present at the outset and 9 (14%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F, ANP, BNP-M and MWM were present during the proceedings.
• As many as two minority members attended the sitting.
• Seven lawmakers applied for leave of absence.

Output

• The House passed seven bills including the Public Welfare Hospital Sui Bill, 2018; the Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses Bill, 2018; the Prohibition of Smoking Practices among Adolescents Bill, 2018; the Balochistan Revenue Bill, 2018; the Balochistan Slum Areas Shifting and Development Bill, 2018; the Balochistan Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Balochistan Arts Council Bill, 2018.
• The House referred the Balochistan Assessment and Examination Bill, 2018 to the relevant committee.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up two Starred Questions on the agenda.
• Six lawmakers debated an adjournment motion for 30 minutes which was about financial assistance to land owners in Districts Pashin and Qila Abdullah.
• Seven lawmakers spoke for 52 minutes on an adjournment motion regarding target killing incidents in Quetta.

Order and Institutionalization

• Nine lawmakers spoke on as many Points of Order consuming 19 minutes of the proceedings.
• A PkMAP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1957 hours that led to the ringing of bells for five minutes. However, the quorum was found incomplete after the bells and the session was prorogued sine die.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was not available on the website of the Assembly.
• Attendance of Members was not made 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