KP Assembly Passes LG (Amendment) Bill, 2018

ISLAMABAD, February 21, 2018: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly passed two bills on Wednesday including the KP Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2018, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

Following are the key observations of the House proceedings during 15th sitting of the 27th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The KP Assembly met for two hours and 27 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1538 hours against the scheduled time 1500 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
  • The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 24 MPAs (19%) were present at outset and 19 (15%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of JI, QWP, ANP and PPPP attended the sitting.
  • One minority lawmaker was present during the sitting.

Output

  • The House passed the KP Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the KP Censorship of Motion Pictures (Films, CDs, Videos, Stage Dramas and Shows) Bill, 2018.

  Representation and Responsiveness

  • As many as eight out of 15 Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings. In addition, lawmakers asked five supplementary questions.
  • The House did not take up two Calling Attention Notices appearing on Orders of the Day.
  • A report on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Censorship of Motion Pictures (Films, CDs, Videos, Stage Dramas and Shows) Bill, 2018 was presented in the house.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers raised ten points of order consuming 20 minutes of the proceedings.
  • Two PPPP lawmakers pointed out the quorum at 1754 hours and 1800 hours. However, the Chair ignored it on both occasions.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, February 23, 2018.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Information on Members’ attendance is not available to observers and media.

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