ISLAMABAD, February 9, 2015: Starting 32 minutes behind the schedule, the tenth sitting of the Sindh Assembly’s 18th session continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers.

Only 18 members (11%) were present at the start of the sitting and 72 (43%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting. However, the Opposition Leader was present for most of the proceedings.

The House deferred the consideration of Thar Development Authority Bill 2015 and Kohistan Development Authority Bill 2015 on the request of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

The House took up four calling attention notices (CANs) regarding alleged victimization of MQM workers in the ongoing operation in Karachi; increasing budget allocation for Hyderabad; grabbing the land belonging to two schools in Karachi and the share being paid to Sukkur Municipal Corporation under the head of OZT. Another CAN regarding the performance of Tehsil Municipal Administration Mirpur Sakro in Thatta was not taken up by the House.

The House also took up an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition Leader regarding increase in drainage cess by up to Rs100. On the other hand, a PML-F lawmaker’s privilege motion against non-implementation of a resolution passed on April 8, 2014 regarding low gas pressure was not taken up due to the mover’s absence.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 58 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1032 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for an hour and 52 minutes, while the remaining six minutes were presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for an hour and 40 minutes.
• Eighteen members (11%) were present at the start and 72 (43%) at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 73 (43%) members were present during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PPPP and PML-N were present.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Four members applied for leave.

Output

• The House deferred the consideration of Thar Development Authority Bill 2015 and Kohistan Development Authority Bill 2015 on the request of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All five starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant ministry. In addition, the MPAs raised 34 supplementary questions.
• The House took up four calling attention notices (CANs) regarding alleged victimization of MQM workers in the ongoing operation in Karachi; increasing budget allocation for Hyderabad; grabbing the land belonging to two schools in Karachi and the share being paid to Sukkur Municipal Corporation under the head of OZT.
• Another CAN regarding the performance of Tehsil Municipal Administration Mirpur Sakro in Thatta was not taken up by the House.
• The House also took up an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition Leader regarding increase in drainage cess by up to Rs100.
• A PML-F lawmaker’s privilege motion against non-implementation of a resolution passed on April 8, 2014 regarding low gas pressure was not taken up due to the mover’s absence.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eight points of order consumed 13 minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the members, observers and others.

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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – a member organization of FAFEN.