KP Assembly Passes One Bill amid Low Attendance

ISLAMABAD, October 5, 2015: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly passed one bill during the 63rd sitting of its ongoing 15th session on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 38 minutes behind the schedule with 45 lawmakers (36%) present at the start and 55 (44%) at the time of adjournment.

The House passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Canal and Drainage (Amendment) Bill 20I5 and witnessed introduction of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill 2015.

The House took up two Calling Attention Notices (CANs); one regarding investigation into financial matters of Frontier Education Foundation and the other on lack of basic facilities at two parks in Hayatabad Peshawar.

A JUI-F lawmaker’s privilege motion against Station House Officer of Mandan Police Station, Bannu was taken up and referred to the relevant committee.

The House witnessed presentation of Standing Committees’ reports on Administration Department, NFC Award (January-June, 2014), and Observance and Implementation of Principles of Policy in relation to the affairs of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for the year 2014.

Following are some key observations of the assembly proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The KP Assembly met for an hour and seven minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1538 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • Forty-five lawmakers (36%) were present at the start and 55 (44%) at the end of the sitting.
  • A maximum of 60 (48%) members attended the sitting.
  • Entire sitting was chaired by the Speaker.
  • The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
  • Parliamentary leaders of QWP and JI were present in the sitting.
  • Two minority members attended the sitting.
  • Seven members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Canal and Drainage (Amendment) Bill 20I5 and witnessed introduction of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill 2015.
  • The House witnessed presentation of Standing Committees’ reports on Administration Department, NFC Award (January-June, 2014) and Observance and Implementation of Principles of Policy in relation to the affairs of the KP for the year 2014.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • All ten questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant minister. In addition, lawmakers raised six supplementary questions.
  • The House took up two Calling Attention Notices (CANs); one regarding investigation into financial matters of Frontier Education Foundation and the other on lack of basic facilities at two parks in Hayatabad Peshawar.
  • A JUI-F lawmaker’s privilege motion against Station House Officer of Mandan Police Station, Bannu was taken up and referred to the relevant committee.

Order and Institutionalization

  • No protests/boycotts/walkouts were witnessed.

Transparency

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

To download the factsheet, click here


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