ISLAMABAD, August 12, 2015: The Sindh Assembly session was prorogued sine die as five bills were passed amid low attendance of lawmakers on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network in its daily factsheet.

The five bills passed by the House included the Sindh Local Government (Third Amendment) Bill 2015; the Sindh Zakat and Ushr (Amendment) Bill 2015; the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana (Amendment) Bill 2015; the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Malir University of Science and Technology Karachi Bill 2015.

The sitting started 58 minutes behind the schedule with 33 lawmakers (20%) present at the start and 45 (27%) at the time of adjournment.

The House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn child abuse in Kasur and demanded timely justice for victims and their families. An Adjournment Motion of PTI lawmaker regarding failure of K-Electric was debated but the Chair termed it ‘out of order’ after being opposed by the Minister for Finance.

The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding non-operational Cardiology Ward at Government Pretabad Hospital Hyderabad.

Four other CANs appearing on the agenda were not taken up by the House due to movers’ absence. These CANs were related to removal of encroachment from nullahs in Karachi, absence of basic facilities at a government girl school in Hyderabad, Supreme Court’s order regarding officers working on Own Pay Scale (OPS) basis in various departments and shifting the slum residents to safe areas.

The House did not consider a Privilege Motion moved by PPPP lawmaker due to his absence. The motion was moved against the disrespectful attitude of Deputy Commissioner, Malir.

Following are some key observations:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and 26 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1058 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• Thirty-three (20%) lawmakers were present at the start and 45 (27%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 48 members (29%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML-N and PTI were present.
• Two out of nine minority members attended the sitting.
• Three members applied for leave.

Output

• The House passed five bills including  the Sindh Local Government (Third amendment) Bill 2015; the Sindh Zakat and Ushr (Amendment) Bill 2015; the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana (Amendment) Bill 2015; the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Malir University of Science and Technology Karachi Bill 2015.
• The House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn child abuse cases in Kasur and demanded speedy justice for the victims and their families.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Three out of seven starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant departments. In addition, the lawmakers raised 13 supplementary questions.
• An Adjournment Motion by PTI lawmaker regarding failure of K-Electric was debated but the Chair termed it ‘out of order’ after being opposed by the Minister for Finance.
• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding non-operational Cardiology Ward at Government Pretabad Hospital Hyderabad.
• The House did not consider a Privilege Motion moved by PPPP lawmaker due to his absence. The motion was moved against the disrespectful attitude of Deputy Commissioner, Malir.

Order and Institutionalization

• Four Points of Order (POs) consumed five minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the members, observers and public
• Information on members’ attendance was available to the observers and public

To download the factsheet, click here

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