ISLAMABAD, August 30, 2013: The Balochistan Assembly passed two bills including the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2013 during the eighth sitting of the fifth session on Friday.

The House also passed the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2013.

The House adopted two jointly tabled resolutions about illegal construction of speed breakers by the Frontier Corps (FC), police and the Levies on Balochistan National Highway and the Indus National Highway’s disconnect from the M-8 National Highway.

The entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker. The Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and all parliamentary leaders, except PML’s, were absent.

The House did not hold a general discussion on the state of education, health department and the low attendance of government officials in the province.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 50 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1625 hours, witnessing a delay of 25 minutes against the scheduled start time of 1600 hours.
• A maximum 30 Members were present at the outset of the sitting and 19 at the end.
• The entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and all parliamentary leaders, except PML’s, were absent.
• Three MPAs took oath during the sitting.
• One Member applied for leave.
• A single minority MPA attended the sitting.

Output

• The House passed two government bills: the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2013 and the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2013.
• There were two joint resolutions on the list of Business about illegal construction of speed breakers by the Frontier Corps (FC), police and the Levies on Balochistan National Highway causing accidents and vehicular damage, and the Indus National Highway’s disconnect from the M-8 National Highway. Both resolutions were adopted.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A general discussion on the state of education, health department and low attendance of government officials in the province was not held.

Order and Institutionalization

• A single MPA spoke on a point of order for a minute.
• No protests/boycotts /walkouts were recorded during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on legislators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD), a Member organization of FAFEN.