Sindh Assembly Transacts Entire Business

  • Session Prorogued

ISLAMABAD, May 18, 2017: The Sindh Assembly transacted its entire business appearing on Orders of the Day and passed the Sindh Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 taken as supplementary agenda on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during last (17th) sitting of the 32nd session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and ten minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1145 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The proceedings remained suspended for three minutes due to Azaan.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
  • The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) attended the proceedings for 48 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 15 minutes.
  • Thirty-eight lawmakers (23%) were present at outset while 59 (36%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, and PML-F attended the sitting.
  • Six minority members were present.
  • Seven members applied for leave.

Output

  • Moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed the Sindh Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 taken as supplementary agenda.
  • The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs presented three audit reports by Auditor General of Pakistan on various accounts of the Provincial departments and a report of the Select Committee on salaries and allowances of members. The committee report was presented as supplementary agenda.
  • The Speaker informed the House about the Governor’s assent to the ILMA University Bill, 2016, passed by the Assembly.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up three out of five Starred Questions which were responded to by the relevant minister. The lawmakers also asked 21 Supplementary Questions.
  • The government opposed an Adjournment Motion of PTI lawmaker about increasing pollution in Karachi and the Chair declared it ‘out of order’.
  • The ministers made statements on five Call Attention Notices regarding matters of public importance.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers spoke on three Points of Order consuming five minutes of the proceedings.

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.