KARACHI, November 15, 2012: The first sitting of Sindh Assembly’s 39^th session convened to debate the Sindh Peoples Local Government ordinance 2012 met for four hours and 48 minutes on Thursday. The members of ANP, NPP, PMLF and PML staged three walkouts, demanding the allotment of opposition seats by the speaker.

Three bills appeared on the orders of the day – the treasury backed Sindh Procurement bill 2012 was passed by the house while the Sindh Revenue Board (Amendment) bill 2012 and the Jinnah Sindh Medical University bill 2012 were introduced and sent to relevant standing committees.

One Resolution regarding unruly behavior of opposition members on the floor was adopted by the House.

Sixty-eight members were present at the start while 64 were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum, 106 members were sighted at any one point during the sitting.

The Chief Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 26 minutes, while the Speaker who remained present throughout the sitting presided over the proceedings of the house.

Three MPAs spoke for six minutes on an adjournment motion regarding maltreatment of the Provincial Minister for Women Development by officials of toll plaza in Jamshoro.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Sindh Assembly met for four hours and 48 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1210 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000   hours. The proceedings were delayed by two hours and 10 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 26 minutes.
• All the parliamentary leaders were present.
• Sixty-eight (40%) Members were present at the start while 64 (38%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Six minority Members were present during the proceedings.
• Two members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• All three questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, 13 supplementary questions were also asked.

• Three MPAs spoke for six minutes on an adjournment motion regarding mistreatment of Provincial Minister for Women Development by officials of toll plaza in Jamshoro.

Output

• Three bills appeared on the orders of the day; the Sindh Procurement bill 2012 was passed by the house while the Sindh Revenue Board (Amendment) bill 2012 and the Jinnah Sindh Medical University bill 2012 were introduced.
• One Resolution regarding unruly behavior of opposition members in the house was adopted by the assembly.

Order and Institutionalization

• Ten Points of Order were raised.
• Members belonging to ANP, NPP, PMLF, PML staged three times walkouts demanding the allotment of opposition seats.

Transparency

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