ISLAMABAD, Dec 15:  The second sitting of the Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 18 minutes with low attendance of Members. A total of 14 Members at the outset and 15 at the end of the sitting were present.

None of the four Questions on the Orders of the Day were taken up, as the relevant minister was did not attend the proceedings.

A total of 19 Points of Order were raised, which consumed the entire sitting’s time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling. Unless the Chair gives a formal ruling on a Point of Order, it does not contribute to any assembly output.

The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting. The parliamentary leaders of JUI (Ideological), Like Minded Group and PML attended the proceedings.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 18 minutes.
• The second sitting started at 1142 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1100 hours. The House proceedings started late by 42 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minster and the Leader of the Opposition were not present.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of the JUI (Ideological), Like Minded Group and PML attended the sitting, while the leaders of ANP, BNPA, JUI, NP and PMLN were absent.
• A total of 14 Members (22% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 15 (23%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two Minority Members were present during the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The four Questions on the agenda were not taken up by the House.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.

 Order and Institutionalization

• A total of 19 Points of Order were raised, which consumed the entire 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 during the sitting. However, lack of Quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members of the Balochistan Assembly.

After successfully observing proceedings of the National Assembly, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has started the observation of the provincial assemblies – Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan – and the Senate. This daily factsheet is based on FAFEN’s direct observation of the second sitting of 29th session of the Balochistan Assembly. These reports will be released on the day the sittings are held to provide media and other interested stakeholders vital statistics about the Assembly proceedings to encourage informed public discourse on its performance.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development (CPD), a member organization of FAFEN