Balochistan Assembly Transacts Entire Business

ISLAMABAD, April 4, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan transacted its entire business appearing on the ‘Order of the Day’ on Monday during fourth sitting of its 27th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Some key observations are as follows:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Balochistan Assembly met for two hours and 20 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1640 hours against scheduled time of 1600 hours.
  • Nineteen (31%) lawmakers were present at the start and nine (15%) at the time of adjournment of sitting.
  • A maximum of 32 (53%) members attended the sitting.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for 62 minutes while the remaining proceeding was chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant.
  • The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were absent.
  • Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP and PML were present.
  • Two minority members attended the sitting.
  • Six members applied for leave.

Output

  • Tabled by Minister for Education, the House unanimously adopted a joint resolution urging the government to contact the federal government for provision of additional electricity supply to various districts of Balochistan. 14 members spoke on it consuming 63 minutes of proceeding.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The government orally responded to three starred questions appearing on the agenda. The lawmakers also asked two supplementary questions.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Members spoke on six Points of Order consuming 28 minutes of the proceeding.

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.