KP Assembly Passes Bills on Mental Health, Civil Courts

ISLAMABAD, May 15, 2016: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed two government bills and adopted as many Private Members’ resolutions on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding during 10th sitting of 24th Session:

Members’ Participation in House Proceeding

  • The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly met for an hour and 24 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1600 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
  • The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were not present.
  • Thirty-two lawmakers (26%) were present at the outset while 33 (26%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of JI and ANP attended the sitting.
  • One minority members was present.
  • Fourteen members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mental Health Bill,2017 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill,2017.
  • The House adopted two resolutions urging the provincial government to make recommendations to the federal government regarding CPEC projects in the province. The lawmakers demanded to construct an overhead bridge in Abbottabad under China Pakistan Economic Corridor and compensate the affectees of Sukhi Kinari Dam at the rate fixed for Dasu Dam compensation.
  • The Standing Committee on Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, Privileges and Implementation of Government Assurances presented its report on Privilege Motion No. 90. The House adopted the report.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Three out of nine starred questions appearing on agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries/departments. The remaining questions were deferred due to absence of the ministers. In addition, the legislators raised three supplementary questions.
  • The relevant minister made a statement on a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding implementation on KP Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Act 2016. Another CAN was dropped due to absence of the concerned lawmaker.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A lawmaker raised a Point of Order consuming one minute of the sitting.

Transparency

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

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