ISLAMABAD, December 18, 2012: Starting 60 minutes late, the 5^th sitting of the ongoing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s 29^th session continued to witness low attendance of members as only 28 were present at the outset and 31 at the adjournment of the sitting.

Additionally, the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Speaker and the parliamentary leaders of PPPS, PML and PMLN remained absent.

The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. It was pointed out by a MMAP Member. The proceedings resumed after the Speaker ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The sitting lasted for an hour and 42 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1630 hours against the scheduled time of 1530 hours. The proceedings started late by 60 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 40 minutes while the remaining time was presided over by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition remained absent.
• Only the parliamentary leader of PPPP was present while those of PPPS, PML and PMLN remained absent.
• Twenty-eight Members were present at the outset while 31 were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 45 Members were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
• One minority Member attended the sitting.
• Six members applied for leave.
• The House took a 39-minute prayer break.

Representation and Responsiveness

• One Starred Question (requiring oral replies) appearing on the agenda was taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, five Supplementary Questions were asked.
• Two out of three Calling Attention Notices appearing on the agenda were taken up by the House. The Calling Attention Notices were about tube wells’ related issues in Mian Khan and Sangaoo, and the insurance bill – which the government present in the assembly but has been unable to do so since September, 2011.  

• Two Standing Committee Reports – Health and Agriculture Committees – were presented.

Output

• The KPK Payment of Wages Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the respective Standing Committee for further deliberations.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five Points of Order were raised which consumed 18 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. It was pointed out by a MMAP Member. The proceedings resumed after the Speaker ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes.

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