ISLAMABAD, June 15, 2012:  Starting 35 minutes late, the sixth sitting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s 26^th session, which met for two hours and 50 minutes, continued debate on budget on Friday.

Four MPAs – two ANP and one each of PPPP and PMLN– spoke on the budget for 41 minutes (24% of sitting time).

A total of 741 cut motions have been introduced by various Members.

A total of 30 Members (24% of total membership – 124) were present at the start, while 55 (44%) were present when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 59 (48%) legislators were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Assembly met for two hours and 50 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started late by 35 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 38 minutes while the remaining time was presided over by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML and PPPS were present.
• A total of 30 Members (24% of total membership – 124) were present at the start, while 55 (44%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two minority Members were present during the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Four MPAs – two ANP and one each of PPPP and PMLN– spoke on the budget for 41 minutes (24% of sitting time).
• A total of 741 cut motions have been introduced by various Members.

Output

• No other agenda appeared on the Agenda.

Order and Institutionalization

• No Points of Order were raised during the sitting.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts and walkouts.

Transparency

• List of Business was available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

• Copies of the budget speech were available to the legislators.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by PAIMAN Alumni Trust, a member organization of FAFEN