Balochistan Assembly Recommends Constituting Provincial Finance Commission

ISLAMABAD, October 31, 2017: The Balochistan Assembly adopted two resolutions on Tuesday recommending the government to constitute Provincial Finance Commission and address road safety issues in the province, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The session was prorogued after the conclusion of its business.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during last (5^th) sitting of the Assembly’s 45^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 35 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1650 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition were absent.
• As many as 16 lawmakers (25%) were present at the outset and nine (14%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML and MWM were present during the proceedings.
• Two minority members also attended the sitting.
• Twelve members applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by PkMAP lawmaker, the House unanimously adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to approach the federal government for installation of traffic monitoring system to avoid road accidents. As many as seven lawmakers debated the resolution consuming 44 minutes of the proceedings.
• Moved by NP lawmaker, the House passed a resolution urging the government to constitute the Provincial Finance Commission for fair distribution of resources among districts of the province. As many as four members debated the resolution consuming seven minutes of the proceedings.
• The House granted one-month extension to the standing committees on Services & General Administration, Social Welfare and Rules of Procedure & Privileges for presentation of their reports.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred five Starred Questions appearing on agenda due to absence of the concerned ministers.
• The House took up a Call Attention Notice (CAN) regarding solid-waste management in Quetta while two CANs on compliance of recommendations of the Standing Committee on Home & Tribal Affairs and illegal settlements by dwellers were referred to concerned standing committees. Moreover, a CAN regarding target killing of a political worker of PkMAP was deferred due to absence of the concerned minister.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on six Points of Order consuming 40 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 Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.

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