Sindh Assembly Addresses Private Members’ Agenda

ISLAMABAD, March 1, 2018: The Sindh Assembly passed a private member’s bill and took up four Calling Attention Notices (CANs) on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fifth sitting of the 38th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 04 minutes.
  •  The sitting started at 1114 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 46 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
  • The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 25 minutes.
  • As many as 16 (10%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 49 (29%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PTI and PML-F attended the sitting.
  • As many as five minority lawmakers were also present.

Output

  • Moved by a PPP lawmaker, the House passed the Ziauddin University (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
  • The House deferred the Sindh Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Chair rejected an Adjournment Motion of PTI lawmaker regarding an incident of fire outbreak in Sindh Secretariat.
  • The House took up five out of nine Starred Questions for answers during the proceedings. In addition, lawmakers asked 24 supplementary questions.
  • The House addressed four Calling Attention Notices (CANs) highlighting the issues of occupation of Institute of Business Administration’s land by land grabbers, encroachment on Peer Illahi Bux (PIB) Colony Bus Stand, closure of Canals in Thatta and shortage of life saving-drugs in Khairpur.
  • The House did not take up the CANs regarding illegal inductions in Education Department, Dadu and protest of doctors for promotion due to absence of movers.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • A PML-F lawmaker staged a two-minute protest during the proceedings against the Chair’s decision to reject her Adjournment Motion.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, March 2, 2018 at 1000 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 Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted