KP Assembly Adopts Three Resolutions amid Low Attendance

ISLAMABAD, September 27, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) adopted three resolutions amid low attendance of lawmakers on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 21st session:

Members’ Participation

  • The KP Assembly met for 43 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1542 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • Twenty-nine lawmakers (24%) were present at the start and 39 (32%) at the adjournment of sitting.  A maximum of 46 members (37%) were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
  • The Speaker was absent.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were absent.
  • Parliamentary leaders of ANP and PML-N were present.
  • Two minority members attended the sitting.
  • Twelve members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House adopted three resolutions. The first resolution was tabled by QWP lawmaker to condemn the violence against women while the second resolution was jointly tabled by lawmakers to condemn attacks in Held Kashmir by Indian occupied forces. The third resolution was about raising the scale of employees of Agriculture department.
  • Another resolution tabled by PPPP lawmaker regarding enrolment of children of public servants in public schools was deferred by the House.
  • The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2016 remained unaddressed due to the absence of Chief Minister.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Two Call Attention Notices (CANs) were not taken up due to the absence of the relevant minister as well as the mover.
  • Two out of six Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were answered by the relevant departments. Lawmakers also asked two Supplementary Questions.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
  •  The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the KP Assembly proceedings conducted by the United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted