FAFEN Parliament Monitor 22nd Session Report of Balochistan Assembly

The 22nd Session of the Balochistan Assembly remained heavily focused on the need for greater efforts by the provincial government to stir economic growth in the province through fiscal and non-fiscal measures for creating conductive business environment for investors and traders. Relaxation in levies and easy access to trade routes in the province were some of the recommendations that were floated by Members as the House debated relevant items on its agenda.

The 22nd Session comprised six sittings between November 6 and November 20 when it was prorogued. Marked by low attendance of Members, each sitting started 45 minutes behind the schedule on average and lasted two hours and 19 minutes. The longest sitting on November 14 lasted 2 hours and 35 minutes and the shortest sitting for 1 hour and 55 minutes on November 6, 2015.

The House passed Balochistan Wildlife (Protection Preservation, Conservation and Management) Amendment Act, 2015 that seeks to settle the modalities of transferring 9,000 acres of land to Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). Introduced during the 2nd sitting by the Provincial Minister for Law, the House passed the bill after two minutes of debate during its 4th sitting.

Two other government bills – the Balochistan Sound System (Regulation) Bill, 2015 and the Balochistan Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Bill, 2015 – were introduced during the 6th sitting and referred to the relevant committees.

Of three Adjournment Motions that appeared on the agenda, only one was admitted by the Acting Speaker for a discussion. Moved by a Member belonging to ANP, the motion on the misuse of Balochistan quota in the federal government was only debated by the House for eight minutes or six percent of the sitting time. The ANP Member was of the view that fake domiciles were being used by individuals for seeking appointments at higher posts in federal government departments.

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