ISLAMABAD, May 3, 2012: Starting an hour and 48 minutes behind schedule, the sixth sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 35^th session, which met for three hours and 20 minutes on Thursday, passed a Resolution posing confidence in the Prime Minister.

In the second Resolution the House reiterated its commitment to “uphold the freedom of press as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.” May 3 is observed as the World Press Freedom Day.

The first Resolution backed the Prime Minister as “constitutionally and democratically elected Prime Minister and unanimously elected Chief Executive of this country” and reaffirmed “belief in constitutional procedure for his disqualification from holding the office and that any other procedure adopted will be considered as unconstitutional.”

Three more Resolutions taken up in the House were sent to relevant Standing Committees.

The Quorum, visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting, was not pointed out by any of the Members.

Eight Questions out of 10 on the Agenda were taken up, as 30 Supplementary Questions were also asked. The relevant minister was present in the House.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 20 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1118 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 0930 hours. The proceedings were delayed by an hour and 48 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting. The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of the PPPP, MQM and ANP were present while those of PML (F-B), PML, PMLF and NPP did not attend the sitting.
• Twenty-seven (16% of 165) Members were present at the start while 42 (25%) were there when the sitting was adjourned. 
• Four minority Members were present during the proceedings.  

Representation and Responsiveness

• Eight Questions out of 10 on the Agenda were taken up, as 30 Supplementary Questions were also asked. The relevant minister was present in the House.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the agenda.
• Two Resolutions were adopted by the House.

• The first Resolution reiterated the Assembly’s commitment to uphold the freedom of press as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.  
• The other reposed confidence in Prime Minister as constitutionally and democratically elected Prime Minister and unanimously elected Chief Executive of this country and reaffirmed belief in constitutional procedure for his disqualification from holding the office and that any other procedure adopted will be considered as unconstitutional.
• Three other Resolutions were sent to the respective Standing Committees.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Seven Points of Order consumed 20 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.

 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, visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting, 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