ISLAMABAD, January 18, 2013: Starting an hour and 13 minutes late, the 14^th sitting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s 29^th session adopted seven resolutions, including one calling for awarding Nishan-i-Pakistan to the slain provincial Senior Minister and another condemning use of unparliamentary language against Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The sitting, which met for two hours and 30 minutes, was marked by the low attendance as 36 out of the total membership – 124 – were present at the outset and 37 were there at the adjournment.

The chief minister, the leader of the opposition and the parliamentary leaders of PMLN, PML and PPPP did not attend the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The KP Assembly met for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1613 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours. The proceedings started late by one hour and 13 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition remained absent.
• Only the parliamentary leader of PPPS was present while those of PPPP, PML and PMLN remained absent.
• Thirty six members were present at the outset while 37 were there at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 51 were present at one point of the sitting.
• Two minority members were present.
• Five members applied for leave.
• The house took a 23-minute break.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Three starred questions on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, five supplementary questions were asked.
• Four calling attention notices on sacked employees reinstated under the Sacked Employees Act not getting posts, delay in the construction of college for girls, poor condition of roads in Kohat, and an incomplete water supply scheme were taken up.

Output

• The House adopted seven resolutions. Moreover five resolutions were withdrawn. The resolutions asked the provincial government to set up fertilizer factory in Kohat; a shelter home for old people; training paramedical officers on the issues of young mothers and adolescents; construction of roads; use of non-parliamentary language against Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah; increasing quota for minority students in government medical colleges; and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senior Minister, who was killed in a bomb blast last month, should be awarded Nishan-i-Pakistan.

Order and Institutionalization

• Three points of order consumed 23 minutes of the sitting time. None of the points of order attracted the chair’s formal ruling.

• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to the legislators, observers and others.
• The members’ attendance was not made public.
• The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.

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