ISLAMABAD, June 15, 2020: The Sindh Assembly added a provision in its Rules of Procedure on Monday authorizing the Speaker to hold online sessions of the House in case of any emergency and also allowing coronavirus-infected lawmakers to virtually participate in the proceedings, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are the key observations of the House proceedings during first sitting of the tenth session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for three hours and 39 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1100 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire proceedings in the presence of the Deputy Speaker.
• The Leader of the House attended the proceedings for an hour and 25 minutes while the Opposition Leader remained in the House for two hours and 40 minutes.
• As many as 46 MPAs (26%) were present at the outset and 37 (23%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MMAP, PTI and TLP attended the proceedings.
• Four out of nine minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Introduced by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed the Stamp (Sindh Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• The House approved seven more bills after getting reports of the Standing Committees. These bills included the Sindh Advisors (Appointments, Powers, Functions, Salaries, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Sindh Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Sindh Covid-19 Emergency Relief Bill, 2020; the Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Sir Cowasjee Jahangir Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Hyderabad Bill, 2019; the Aror University of Art, Architecture, Design and Heritage Sukkur, Bill, 2019 and the Shaheed Allah Buksh Soomro University of Art, Design and Heritages Jamshoro Bill, 2020.
• Moved by the Minister for Excise & Taxation, the House passed a motion to make amendment in the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as contemplated by sub-rule 4(a) of Rule 267 of Rules of Procedure. It would allow the Speaker to hold online sessions of the House in case of any emergency or when it is impracticable. It would also make possible for the lawmakers contracted coronavirus to virtually participate in the proceedings. The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) also gave demo about the online session of the Assembly from his Chamber.
• The House unanimously adopted three supplementary resolutions to write `Khatam-un-Nabiyyin’ at the end of the name of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), raise the issue with the Saudi government for reconstruction of shrine of Hazrat Bibi Fatima (R.A.) and pay tribute to Professor Waris Mir for his democratic struggle.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred the Question Hour and Calling Attention Notices.
• Sponsored by a PPPP lawmaker, the Chair admitted an adjournment motion for debate regarding the imminent loss to agriculturalists after locust attack.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two lawmakers spoke on points of order for ten minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on June 17, 2020 (Wednesday) at 1400 hours.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of the 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