KP Assembly suspends regular agenda, discusses privilege motion

ISLAMABAD, May 31, 2021: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) suspended its entire agenda and debated a privilege motion of a PTI lawmaker against a police official, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.

Following are the key observations of the House proceedings during the fourth sitting of the 18th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for three hours and 33 minutes while the sitting remained suspended for 20 minutes due to prayer break.
  • The sitting started at 03:41 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
  • The speaker presided over the proceedings for two hours while the remaining sitting was chaired by a member of panel of chairpersons.
  • Deputy speaker did not attend the sitting.
  • The leader of the House (chief minister) was not present.
  • The opposition leader attended the entire sitting.
  • As many as 50 (34 percent) legislators were present at the start and 54 (37 percent) at the end of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of ANP and BAP attended the sitting.
  • Three out of four minority members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House debated a PTI lawmaker’s privilege motion regarding misbehavior of a police official from Peshawar city with him. Nineteen lawmakers spoke on it for three hours and five minutes while Minister for labor concluded debate on it and assured disciplinary action against the police officer after inquiry.
  • The House did not hold debate on price hike and unemployment in the province.
  • The House neither observed question hour nor considered two adjournment motions and as many calling attention notices.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The House was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 02:00 pm.

Transparency

  • ‘List of Business’ 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 direct observation of the KP Assembly proceeding conducted by United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted