ISLAMABAD, September 10, 2012:  Starting 57 minutes late, the seventh sitting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s 27^th session met for three hours and 10 minutes on Monday and passed four bills.

The House unanimously passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Amendment Bill 2012, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Brostal Institutions Bill 2012 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sacked Employees (Appointment) Bill 2012.

The House adopted a resolution on a financial package for the business community announced by the Prime Minister. All 13 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, 20 supplementary questions were also asked.

The Deputy Speaker and the Chief Minister did not attend the proceedings.

The sitting witnessed low attendance of MPAs.  Only 31 (25% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 28 (23%) were there at the adjournment.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Assembly met for three hours and 10 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1757 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The House proceedings started late by 57 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the proceedings while the Leader of the Opposition was present.
• Only the parliamentary leaders of the PPPS attended the sitting.
• Thirty-one Members (25% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 28 (23%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Sixteen Members applied for leave.
• The House took a 45-minute prayer break.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• All 13 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, 20 supplementary questions were also asked.
• Seven Calling Attention Notices were taken up by the House.

Output

• Four bills — the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Amendment Bill 2012, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Brostal Institutions Bill 2012 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sacked Employees (Appointment) Bill 2012 – were unanimously passed by the House.
• The House adopted a resolution regarding the financial package for business community announced by the Prime Minister.

 Order and Institutionalization

•  Three Points of Order were raised, which consumed one minute of the sitting time.
• There is no instance of protest, boycott or walkout during the sitting.

Transparency

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

 

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