Sindh Assembly Leaves Most Agenda Unaddressed

ISLAMABAD, May 3, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh left most of its agenda unaddressed amid protest by opposition party during last (17th) sitting of its 24th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The House completed 100 working days during its 3rd parliamentary year today.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Sindh Assembly met for 56 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1120 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Deputy Speaker was absent.
  • The Chief Minister and Opposition Leader were absent.
  • 43 lawmakers (27%) were present at the start and 62 (38%) at the end of the sitting.
  • The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F and PTI were present.
  • Two minority members were present.
  • Three members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House did not take up three private member bills, five resolutions, as many private motions and 22 motions to amend its Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The government orally responded to two out of five starred questions appearing on the agenda. In addition, lawmakers asked four supplementary questions.

Order and Institutionalization

  • MQM lawmakers protested on floor of the House for 21 minutes against the Speaker for not allowing their colleague to raise a Point of Order.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • The attendance of lawmakers was available to observers and media.

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.