ISLAMABAD, August 19, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh took up entire agenda appearing on orders of the day on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 23^rd sitting of the 5^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1520 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 20 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired rest of the sitting.
• The Leaders of the House and Opposition did not attend the proceedings.
• As many as 35 MPAs (18%) were present at outset and 70 (40%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, PTI, TLP, MMAP and GDA attended the proceedings.
• Eight out of nine minority lawmakers attended the proceedings.

Output                                                        

• The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Sindh Reproductive Healthcare Rights Bill, 2019 in the House.
• The Chair announced Governor’s assent on the Sindh Finance Bill, 2019.
• The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs presented 1^st Biannual Monitoring Report on the Implementation of National Finance Commission (NFC) Award for July to December, 2016 in the House.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Minister for Health responded to three out of five starred questions. In addition, the lawmakers asked 18 supplementary questions.
• The Ministers concerned responded to all five Calling Attention Notices (CANs) appearing on the agenda. These CANs were related to various issues of governance including provision of clean drinking water for residents of PS-98, negligence of PDMA causing loss during the recent rain spell in Karachi, murder of a trader in Sanghar, alleged involvement of police staff in illegal practices, selling of Drugs and Gutka in markets of Karachi despite ban.
• The lawmakers belonging to PTI withdrew their joint privilege motion after government’s assurance to take due action on the issue.
• An adjournment motion regarding rapid increase in cases of HIV/AIDS in the province remained unaddressed due to absence of its mover.

Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on August 20, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1400 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 Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted