Sindh Assembly Passes Three Government Bills

ISLAMABAD, March 9, 2018: The Sindh Assembly on Friday passed three government bills and addressed one out of six Calling Attention Notices (CANs) on the agenda, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during eleventh sitting of the 38th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for two hours and two minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1139 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 43 minutes.
  • As many as 26 (16%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 29 (17%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F, PML-N and PTI attended the sitting.
  • As many as five minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

  • Moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed three government bills including the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) bill, 2018, the Sohail University Bill, 2017 and the University of Modern Sciences, Tando Muhammad Khan Bill, 2017.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Chair rejected an adjournment motion of PTI lawmaker regarding contaminated water.
  •  The House addressed a CAN regarding commitment of the government to install CCTV Cameras in Hindu Temples. Four CANs were not taken up due to absence of relevant ministers and one remained addressed due to mover’s absence.
  • The House took up all five Starred Questions for answers during the proceedings. In addition, lawmakers asked 25 supplementary questions.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • One point of order consumed seven minutes of the proceedings.
  • The entire Opposition walked out of the House at 1313 hours against consideration of the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018. They did not return to the House till adjournment of sitting at 1341 hours.

 Transparency

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

This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted