Sindh Assembly Resumes Debate on Finance Bill

ISLAMABAD, June 18, 2019: The Sindh Assembly continued general discussion on the provincial Annual Budget 2019-20 on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fifth sitting of the 5^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for six hours and 12 minutes however, the proceedings remained suspended for six minutes due to prayer break.
• The sitting started at 1140 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 22 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
• The Leaders of the House did not attend the sitting.

• The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for an hour and 10 minutes.
• As many as 47 MPAs (28%) were present at the outset and 47 (32%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, TLP and MMAP attended the proceedings.
•  As many as seven out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• 27 lawmakers – PPPP (17), PTI (five), MQMP (three) and GDA (two) – took part in the debate on Annual Budget 2019-20 The discussion continued for five hours and 44 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• A GDA lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1658 hours but it was found complete on headcount.
• As many as three lawmakers spoke on Points of Order consuming five minutes of the proceedings.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on June 19, 2019 (Wednesday) at 1100 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.
  

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

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