KP Assembly Passes Three Govt. Bills, Adopts one Resolution

ISLAMABAD, January 18, 2021: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) transacted most of its agenda on Monday and passed three government bills, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 9th sitting of the 15th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for three hours and 16 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1459 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the proceedings for an hour and 25 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
  • The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • Forty-nine (34%) legislators were present at the start and 40 (27%) at the end of the sitting.
  • Only the parliamentary leader of BAP attended the sitting.
  • Three out of four minority members were present.

Output

  • Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Commerce and Industries introduced the KP Trust (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
  • The House passed the KP Amendment of Certain Fiscal Laws Bill, 2021; the KP Control of Narcotics Substance (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the KP Sugar Factories Control (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up four out of six starred questions while the remaining two questions were lapsed due to absence of movers.
  • The House took up two Calling Attention Notices which were regarding road schemes in Dir Bala and reinstatement of some personnel of Levies Khasadar force. These notices were responded to by Ministers for Local Government and Law respectively.
  • Nine lawmakers spoke on an adjournment motion for an hour and 20 minutes which was regarding shortage of basic amenities of life in merged districts of erstwhile FATA.
  • Sponsored by an ANP lawmaker, the House unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the provincial government to form an Advisory Committee on the Digital Currency.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • Three lawmakers spoke on two point of orders for six minutes
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on January 25, 2021 (Monday) at 1400 Hours.

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 the direct observation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by the United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted