ISLAMABAD, January 27, 2017: The lawmakers of Provincial Assembly of Sindh held discussion on the Water Accord, 1991 in the absence of Chief Minister that consumed four hours and 23 minutes (81%) of the sitting’s time, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Friday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth sitting of 29^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Sindh Assembly met for five hours and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1435 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The proceedings remained suspended for three minutes due to Azaan break.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting for four hours and 53 minutes while the rest of proceedings were chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the proceedings.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 20 minutes.
• Twenty-six lawmakers (15%) were present at the start and 49 (29%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM and PTI were present in the House.
• Five minority members also attended the sitting.
• Eight members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House held discussion on the Water Accord, 1991 for apportionment of waters of Indus River System among the provinces. Twenty-six lawmakers participated in the debate, consuming four hours and 23 minutes of the proceedings.
• Five Starred Questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministers. The lawmakers also asked 26 Supplementary Questions.
• The House deferred five Call Attention Notices (CANs) appearing on the agenda, until next sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• A lawmaker belonging to MQM protested for two minutes against unwarranted remarks passed by a treasury lawmaker against him.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was not available on website of the Assembly.

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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.