ISLAMABAD, September 17, 2021: The Sindh Assembly deferred 62 percent agenda and adopted two resolutions on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the fourth sitting of 23rd session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and three minutes.
• The sitting started at 10:55 am against the scheduled time of 10:00 am.
• The speaker presided over the entire proceedings.
• The deputy speaker was not present.
• The leader of the House (Chief Minister) did not attend the sitting.
• The leader of the opposition was present for an hour and 30 minutes.
• As many as 17 MPAs (10 percent) were present at the outset and 47 (28 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQMP, GDA, TLP and MMAP attended the proceedings.
• Five out of nine minority lawmakers attended the proceedings.

 Output 

• The House unanimously adopted a joint resolution paying tribute to the courageous struggle of Syed Ali Shah Geelani for Kashmiri people and their right to self-determination.
• Tabled by Minister for information, the House adopted another resolution rejecting the proposed legislation against media.
• The House did not consider the Sindh Mines and Minerals Governance Bill, 2021; the University of Mirpurkhas Bill, 2021 and two audit reports of government departments.
• The Chair did not announce the assent of Governor to the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

 Representation and Responsiveness 

• All seven starred questions were taken up during the question hour. In addition, the lawmakers asked 18 supplementary questions.
• The House took up four calling attention notices (CANs) regarding poor performance of DMC Korangi, fund allocation for bar associations in Sindh, law and order situation in the province and collection of cess from cultivators during drought and famine in Tharparkar.
• Another CAN regarding quality of education in Sindh was deferred.
• A privilege motion of PTI lawmaker against Secretary and Director Labor and Human Resources Department was not taken up.
• An adjournment motion of MMAP lawmaker regarding local body system in the province also remained unaddressed.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Four lawmakers spoke on points of order for 45 minutes which were about issues related to media and education.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, September 20, 2021 at 02: 00 pm.

 Transparency                                                             

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