ISLAMABAD, February 24, 2015: Starting 44 minutes behind schedule, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 during 16^th sitting of its ongoing 18^th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Low attendance was witnessed during the sitting as 15 members (9%) were present at the start and 57 legislators (34%) at the time of adjournment.

The House also witnessed the passage of Sindh Insurance of Public Property Bill 2015 and adopted the resolution to include religious books in curriculum for minority students.

Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and 23 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1044 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The sitting was chaired by the Speaker for two hours and 25 minutes while remaining 58 minutes proceedings were presided over by Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 77 minutes while the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
•  Fifteen members (9%) were present at the start and maximum 57 legislators (34%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 69 members (41%) were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM and PML-F were present.
• Four minority members attended the sitting.
• Three members applied for leave.

Output

• The House unanimously passed the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Sindh Insurance of Public Property Bill 2015.
• Tabled by PML-F minority lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to include religious books in curriculum for minority students.
• The House rejected a resolution regarding election of disabled persons as MPAs on reserved seats.
• Three other resolutions on the agenda were not taken up which were about restricting the movement of heavy vehicles in the city area Karachi, giving royalty to people of Tharparkar after coal exploration and measures to renovate the historical Paka Qila Hyderabad.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All five starred questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant department, while the legislators raised 21 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House did not take up five private motions on the agenda while amendment in rules of procedure of the provincial assembly of Sindh as contemplated by sub-rule 4(a) of rule 267 of rules of procedure was not considered.
• The House did not consider an adjournment motion of PML-F female lawmaker regarding non-appointment of the member for Finance Committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two points of order consumed four minutes of the proceedings’ time.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to members, observers and others.

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The 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.