ISLAMABAD, April 29, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Friday transacted its entire business appearing on the ‘Orders of the Day’ during 15^th sitting of its ongoing 24^th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for Three hour and 33 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1021 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was absent.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for one hour and 15 minutes.
• The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for an hour and 16 minutes.
• Two lawmakers (1%) were present at the start and 49 (30%) at the end of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F, PML-N and PTI were present.
• Three minority members were present.
• Two members applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed the Sindh Employees’ Old-Age Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Sindh Senior Citizens Welfare Bill, 2014 and the Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Bill, 2015. The reports of the relevant standing committees on last two bills were also presented before consideration of these bills.
• The Speaker announced that the Governor of Sindh had granted his assent to the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Bill, 2015, the Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Bill, 2015 and the Sindh Factories Bill, 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The government orally responded to all five starred questions appearing on the agenda. In addition, lawmakers asked 22 supplementary questions.
• Five Calling Attention Notices (CANs) were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers on floor of the House.
• The House rejected an Adjournment Motion submitted by PTI lawmaker regarding shortage of water in his constituency. The discussion on the admissibility of the motion consumed 16 minutes of the proceeding.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on 19 Points of Order consuming 24 minutes of the proceeding.
• The quorum was pointed out at 1022 hours and the Speaker ordered the bells to be rung for 10 minutes. It was found complete upon recounting at 1036 hours.
• The proceeding of the House was discontinued due to disturbance caused by the information of presence of an armed person inside the Assembly Hall. The Speaker demanded the Home Minister to inquire the matter and present the detailed report before the House.

Transparency

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

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This 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.