Sitting lasts only seventeen minutes

ISLAMABAD, March 13: The ninth sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 34th session, starting an hour and 35 minutes behind schedule, met for only 17 minutes before adjourning due to 4th Commonwealth Sindh Asia Region Parliamentary Association conference being held in Karachi without transacting any business on Tuesday.

Fifty-two MPAs were present when the House opened proceedings and 66 were there when the sitting was adjourned till Friday.

The parliamentary leaders of the PML, PMLQ (F-B) and MQM were present while those of PMLF, ANP, NPP and PPPP did not attend the sitting.

The Assembly will meet again on Friday.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Sindh Assembly met for 17 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1135 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings were delayed by an hour and 35 minutes.
  • A Member of the Panel of Chairperson chaired the sitting.
  • The Chief Minister was absent.
  • The parliamentary leaders of the PML, PMLQ (F-B) and MQM were present while those of PMLF, ANP, NPP and PPPP did not attend the sitting.
  • Fifty-two Members (32% of the total Membership) were present at the start while 66 (39%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
  • Four minority Members were present during the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Question Hour was not held.

Output

  • No Bills were taken up by the House.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Two Points of Order consumed five minutes of the sitting time.
  • There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.

Transparency

  • List of Business was available to Legislators, observers and others.
  • Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
  • The Quorum was maintained throughout the sitting.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Sindh Assembly proceedings conducted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), a member organization of FAFEN