ISLAMABAD, March 12: The eighth sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 34^th session, starting an hour and 10 minutes behind schedule, met for one hour and 55 minutes on Monday, deferred the Sindh Coal Bill 2012 till Friday.

The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Speaker was absent during the sitting.

The Chief Minister was present for 15 minutes while Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.

The parliamentary leader of the PPPP, MQM and PMLQ (F-B) were present while those of PMLF, PML, NPP and ANP did not attend the sitting.

Out of 20 questions on the Agenda 14 were responded as 34 Supplementary Questions were asked.

Twelve Points of Order consumed 30 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

The Assembly will meet again on Tuesday.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 55 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1110 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings were delayed by an hour and 10 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting while the Speaker did not attend the sitting.
• The Chief Minister was present for 15 minutes while Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• The parliamentary leader of the PPPP, MQM and PMLQ (F-B) were present while those of PMLF, PML, NPP and ANP did not attend the sitting.
• Twenty-three Members (14% of the total Membership) were present at the start while 65 (39%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Four minority Members were present during the proceedings.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• Out of a 20 questions on the Agenda 14 were responded as 34 Supplementary Questions were asked.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• The Sind Coal Bill 2012 was deferred till Friday.
• A total of 12 Points of Order consumed 30 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the Member.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN