ISLAMABAD, November 17, 2014: The Sindh Assembly passed three bills and took up three calling attention notices (CANs) during the 9^th sitting of the 15^th session on Monday, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Tabled by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed three bills including the Sindh Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2014; the Sindh Condominium Bill, 2014 and the Sindh Universities and Institutes Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

The treasury also introduced three bills before the House – the Postgraduate College of Medical Sciences Sindh Bill, 2014; the Sindh School Education Standards and Curriculum Bill, 2014; and the Sindh Medical and Dental Council Bill, 2014.

The House took up three CANs related to financial hardships of pensioners due to non-payment of their monthly pensions, reasons for water shortage in Karachi and the criteria as well as the procedure for appointment of administrators in Karachi’s districts.

A PML-F lawmaker moved an adjournment motion to discuss the post-drought situation in Thar. The motion was admitted for debate with three members speaking for nine minutes.

The Chief Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 53 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for four hours and seven minutes.
• The sitting started at 1115 hours – an hour and 15 minutes later than the scheduled start time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for three hours and 18 minutes while the remaining 49 minutes were presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 53 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• Twenty-five (15% of the total membership) members were present at the start and 48 (29%) at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 75 members were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
• Three non-Muslim members were present in the sitting.
• Five members applied for leave. 

Output

• Tabled by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed three bills including the Sindh Arms (Amendment) Bill 2014; the Sindh Condominium Bill, 2014 and the Sindh Universities and Institutes Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
• The sitting also witnessed introduction of three bills which included the Postgraduate College of Medical Sciences Sindh Bill, 2014; the Sindh School Education Standards and Curriculum Bill, 2014 and the Sindh Medical and Dental Council Bill, 2014.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Sponsored by three MQM lawmakers, the House took up three CANs related to financial hardships of pensioners due to non-payment of their monthly pensions; reasons for water shortage in Karachi; and the criteria as well as the procedure for appointment of administrators in Karachi’s districts.
• Three out of five starred questions (requiring oral as well written answers) appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers. A total of 20 supplementary questions were raised in the sitting.
• A PML-F lawmaker moved an adjournment motion to discuss the post-drought situation in Thar. It was admitted for debate with three members speaking for nine minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• Fifteen points of order consumed 32 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• There was no instance of protest, boycott or walkout.

Transparency

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

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