Sindh Assembly Adopts Five Resolutions, Passes Two Bills

ISLAMABAD, March 6, 2018: The Sindh Assembly adopted five resolutions and passed two bills on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 59 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1150 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 33 minutes while rests of the proceedings were chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 27 (16%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 23 (14%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F, PTI and PML-N attended the sitting.
  • Six minority lawmakers were also present.

Output

  • The House adopted five resolutions to condole the death of the son of sitting MPA Rubina Qaimkhani, declare 20th March as a Public Holiday on the day of martyrdom of Sain Sooryah Badshah, award royalty to the Oil and Gas producing talukas/districts, introduce concept of net zero energy buildings in major cities of Sindh and establish an Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases at Mirpurkhas.
  • The House passed two bills including the Pakistan University, Karachi Bill, 2017 and the Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) University Bill, 2017.
  • A PPPP lawmaker introduced the Sindh Regulation of Marriage Functions Bill, 2018 which was referred to the relevant committee.
  • A PTI lawmaker introduced the Sindh Maternity Benefits Bill, 2018.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House dropped an Adjournment Motion of PTI lawmaker due to his absence.
  • The House took up all five Starred Questions for answers during the proceedings. In addition, lawmakers asked 12 supplementary questions.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • PML-F lawmakers protested in the House for one minute over remarks of PPPP lawmaker against their party.
  • A point of order consumed eight minutes of the proceedings.

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