Sindh Assembly Addresses Most of its Agenda

ISLAMABAD, January 14, 2021: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh addressed most of its agenda on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during seventh sitting of 17th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Assembly met for an hour and 43 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1515 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was absent.
  • The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire proceedings.
  • Thirty-four legislators (21%) were present at the outset and 42 (25%) at the end of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of TLP and MMAP attended the proceedings.
  • Six out of nine minority lawmakers were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up three out of five starred questions. In addition, the lawmakers asked 17 supplementary questions.
  • Minister for Energy responded to four Calling Attention Notices (CANs) related to electricity distribution by the Sindh government, impounding of bikes by traffic police in Karachi, establishment of government schools for special student in district Kiamari and weak prosecution against criminals  .
  • Another CAN related to deteriorated condition of roads and damaged sewerage system of SITE area, Karachi was not taken up due to absence of mover.
  • The Chair admitted an adjournment motion which was regarding gas load-shedding in winter season for domestic consumers.

Order and Institutionalization

  • As many as four lawmakers spoke on two Points of Order consuming seven minutes.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on January 15, 2021 (Friday) at 1430 hours.

 Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
  • The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

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