ISLAMABAD, May 5, 2015: The Sindh Assembly left 90% of its agenda unaddressed on Tuesday as the House continued to witness low attendance, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 69 minutes behind the schedule with 38 members (23%) present at the start and 63 (38%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister was not present, while the Opposition Leader attended 61% of the sitting. The House left five resolutions, five private motions, three legislative bills and nine amendments to the Rules of Procedure unaddressed during the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:

• The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 58 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1109 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The remaining proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for 109 minutes.
• 38 members (23%) were present at the start and 63 (38%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 71 members (42%) were present.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-N, PTI and PML-F were present.
• Three out of nine minority members attended the sitting.
• Two members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Four out of six questions were taken up and responded by the relevant departments. The lawmakers also raised 30 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House took up an adjournment motion regarding water shortage in Karachi, with the Speaker giving a ruling that the motion will be discussed on May 11.
• A PTI lawmaker’s privilege motion against a Director General of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was also taken up. However, the Chair termed the motion as “out of order” after it was opposed by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
• The House adopted a motion to discuss the third quarterly report on allocation and expenditures of the provincial budget. It was decided to hold a five-day pre-budget discussion from May 11.

Order and Institutionalization

• 23 points of order (POs) consumed 35 minutes of the sitting.
• The sitting witnessed a five-minute protest by PML-N, PML-F and PTI lawmakers against the Education Minister, who criticized them for talking against the Speaker on media.
• MQM members also carried out a three-minute protest against the Information Minister’s remarks against the party.
• Opposition parties collectively carried out multiple protests during their arguments with the treasury lawmakers, which consumed two minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the members, observers and the public.
• Information on members’ attendance was available to the observers and the public.

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