ISLAMABAD, April 24, 2019: The pre-budget debate in the Sindh Assembly continued on Wednesday and eleven lawmakers participated in it, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 41^st sitting of the fourth session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 50 minutes.
•  The sitting started at 1440 hours against the scheduled time of 1300 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 40 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 40 minutes.
• As many as 68 lawmakers (40%) were present at the commencement and 66 (39%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PTI and GDA attended the sitting.
• As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House continued pre-budget debate and also discussed the Budget Execution Reports for three quarters from April 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Eleven lawmakers – PPPP (4), PTI (3), MQMP and GDA (two each) – participated in debate for two hours and 24 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• PPPP female lawmakers protested during the proceedings for two minutes against the remarks of a PTI lawmaker. He suggested to let female lawmakers enter in the Assembly premises after thorough checking.
• PPPP lawmakers again protested for three minutes against remarks of a PTI lawmaker about their leadership.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on April 25, 2019 (Thursday) at 1300 hours.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted