ISLAMABAD, September 27, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh left major part of its agenda unaddressed due to the lack of quorum during Private Member’s Day on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 5^th sitting of the 27^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Sindh Assembly met for three hours and six minutes.
• The sitting started at 1008 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The proceedings were suspended for 30 minutes due to lack of quorum.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 27 minutes while the remaining proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 59 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition remained present for an hour and 10 minutes.
• Twenty-six lawmakers (15%) were present at the start and 23 (14%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PML-F and PTI were present.
• Three minority members also attended the sitting.
• Three members applied for leave.

Output

• A MQM lawmaker introduced The Barret Hodgson International University at Karachi (Amendment) Bill while another bill – The Malir Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2016 – was not taken up due to the absence of its mover.
• The House adopted two resolutions tabled by a PTI lawmaker. These resolutions were related to taking action against irregularities in K-Electric department and establishing medico-legal centers in private hospitals. Another resolution tabled by a PML-F lawmaker, declaring Sindhi as national language was also adopted by the House.
• Two Private Member’s resolutions appearing on the agenda were not taken up due to the mover’s absence.
• The House left two reports of the standing committees, five private motions and 22 motions to amend the Rules of Procedure of the Sindh Assembly unaddressed due to the low attendance of lawmakers.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All five Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the government. The lawmakers also asked 16 Supplementary Questions.
• Two Calling Attention Notices (CANs) deferred during last sitting were also taken up and responded to by the relevant minister.
• An Adjournment Motion sponsored by MQM lawmaker on the casualties caused by rains in Karachi and Hyderabad was not taken up due to the absence of mover.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on five Points of Order, consuming 20 minutes of the proceedings.
• MQM and PPPP lawmakers protested for two minutes over the attitude of the Deputy Speaker for not allowing them to speak on a resolution.
• Treasury (PPPP) lawmakers protested for 15 minutes against the Chair for not allowing them to speak on a resolution of PML-F lawmaker. Later, they walked out of the House on the same issue at 1234 hours and did not return to the House.
• A PPPP lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1236 hours, which was found incomplete on the first count at 1250 hours and the Chair suspended the sitting until 1313 hours. When the House assembled together, the quorum was still found incomplete and the sitting had to be adjourned for the day.

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.