ISLAMABAD, March 27, 2018: The Balochistan Assembly on Tuesday witnessed introduction of two bills to curb smoking practices among adolescents and at cinema houses, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the sixth sitting of the Assembly’s 50^th session:

 Members’ Participation 

• The Balochistan Assembly met for an hour and 34 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1636 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• As many as 21 lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 28 (43%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and PkMAP were present during the proceedings.
• One minority member attended the sitting.

Output

• Provincial Minister for Health introduced the Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses Bill, 2018 and the Prohibition of Smoking Practices among Adolescents Bill, 2018. The Chair referred both bills  to the relevant committee for further consideration as per rule 84 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Balochistan Assembly.
• The House approved various amendments in Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business,1974 of Balochistan Assembly. These amendments were regarding definitions of various Parliamentary terms and substitution of rules of vote of confidence in Chief Minister.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred a starred question on the agenda due to absence of relevant mover.
• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice about increase in the educational years for bachelor degree which was responded to by the Provincial Minister for Education.
• Sponsored by an NP lawmaker, the Chair admitted an adjournment motion regarding violation of merit during recruitment process in Education Department.

Order and Institutionalization

• Nineteen points of order consumed 30 minutes of the proceedings. .

 Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was not available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Attendance of Members was not made public.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Balochistan Assembly proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development (CPD) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.