Balochistan Assembly Takes Up Entire Agenda

ISLAMABAD, September 26, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan transacted entire business appearing on its ‘Orders of the Day’ on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

• The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1640 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
• The Chief Minister attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• Twenty-three lawmakers (49%) were present at start and 16 (25%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PML, ANP, PkMAP and MWM were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Five members applied for leave.

Output

• The House referred two joint resolutions to Special Committee comprised Parliamentary Leaders. These resolutions were regarding early completion of construction work of Pat Feeder Canal and payment of outstanding dues of water resources.
• The Minister for Health withdrew his resolution after discussion in the House. The resolution was about commemorating September 8 as National Language Day. Eight members expressed their views on the subject, consuming 17 minutes of the proceedings time.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred all six Starred Questions appearing on the agenda due to the absence of relevant Minister.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on nine Points of Order, consuming 32 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 proceeding conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.

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