ISLAMABAD, March 1, 2012: Starting more than an hour behind schedule, the second sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 34^th session met for one hour and 35 minutes on Thursday as it witnessed relatively better attendance of MPAs.

Fifty-one MPAs were present when the House opened proceedings and 75 were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 94 MPAs were observed present at one point of the sitting.

Out of 17 Questions on the Agenda, only five were taken up, as 28 Supplementary Questions were also asked. The relevant minister was present in the House.

Law Minister Ayaz Soomro laid the Sindh Ordinance No III of 2012 -The Sindh Regularization of Teachers Appointed on Contract Basis Ordinance 2012 before the House, which was deferred till Monday.  Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro announced the Governor’s assent to the Sindh Madressatul Islam University Bill 2011.

Hasnain Mirza, son of National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, took oath as an MPA.

Ten Points of Order consumed 12 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

The Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.

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

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for one hour and 35 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1130 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings were delayed by an hour and 30 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting.
• The Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition were not present.
• The parliamentary leaders of the PMLQ (F-B), PMLF, MQM, and ANP were present while those of PML, NPP and PPPP did not attend the sitting.
• Fifty-one Members (31% of the total Membership) were present at the start while 75(45%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Four minority Members were present during the proceedings.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• Five Questions out of 17 on the Agenda were taken up, as 28 Supplementary Questions were also asked. The relevant minister was present in the House.
• An ordinance on regularizing teachers appointed on contract basis was laid before the House.
• The Speaker announced the Governor’s assent to the Sindh Madressatul Islam University Bill 2011.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Ten Points of Order consumed 12 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

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