ISLAMABAD, November 01, 2013: The Sindh Assembly deferred the Gorakh Hills Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2013 in the second sitting of the eighth session, on Friday.

The said bill was introduced in the previous sitting by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. Another bill on the list of business, the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Bill, 2013, was not taken up.

An adjournment motion jointly moved by three female MQM legislators about the increase in electricity load-shedding in Hyderabad city was not debated as the Chair asked the movers to bring the matter on a resolution. The motion was also opposed on technical grounds.

The Deputy Speaker Chaired the entire proceedings. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of Opposition was present for 40 minutes.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for an hour and 50 minutes. The proceedings observed a three minutes Azan break.
• The sitting started at 1125 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 25 minutes against the schedule start time of 1000 hours.
• Forty-nine Members were present at the time of outset and 83 when the sitting was adjourned.  At one point, a maximum of 85 Members were present in the sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker Chaired the entire sitting while the Speaker was absent.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting whereas the Leader of Opposition was present for 40 minutes.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML-F and PML-N were present.
• Three Members applied for leave.
• Five of nine Minority Members attended the proceedings.

Output

• One of the two bills – the Gorakh Hills Development Authority (Amendment) Bill – on the orders of the day was deferred till the next sitting due to Friday prayer. The Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Bill, 2013 was not taken up.

Representation and Responsiveness

• There were nine starred questions addressed to the Wildlife Department on the agenda.  Five of them were taken up and answered by a representative of the department. Additionally, Members asked 34 supplementary questions.

• The Chair asked of the movers of an adjournment motion regarding the increased duration of electricity load-shedding in the Hyderabad city to bring the matter on a resolution. The adjournment motion was opposed by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs on technical grounds.

Order and Institutionalization

• Members raise 12 points of orders consuming 19 minutes of the proceedings.
• No incidents of protests, walkouts or boycotts were recorded.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Legislators’ attendance was available to the observers and the public.  

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN