KP Assembly Defers Agenda to Discuss Quetta Blast

ISLAMABAD, August 8, 2016: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly deferred its regular agenda on Monday to discuss bomb blast in Quetta that resulted in the death of dozens of precious lives, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during third sitting of the 20th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The KP Assembly met for an hour and 56 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1540 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • 35 lawmakers (28%) were present at start and 38 (31%) at adjournment of the sitting. A maximum of 48 members (39%) were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
  • The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
  • The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Opposition Leader was present for an hour and 46 minutes.
  • The parliamentary leaders of ANP, PPPP, QWP and JI attended the proceedings.
  • Two minority members were present.
  • Twelve members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House adopted two resolutions to condemn Quetta bomb blast and ban usage of objectionable material or derogatory language on social media.
  • The Chair deferred the agenda on Orders of the Day that included consideration of five bills, a report of Public Accounts Committee and two Calling Attention Notices.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House discussed law and order in Quetta after the bomb blast hit the provincial capital. Twelve lawmakers – PTI (5), JI (2) and one each of JUI-F, PML-N, ANP, PPPP and QWP – took part in the debate for an hour and 31 minutes.

Transparency

  • Orders of the Day was available to legislators, observers and other stakeholders.
  • Attendance of lawmakers was not available for media and observers.

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