ISLAMABAD, December 2, 2020: The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) adopted a resolution and witnessed the introduction of two government bills on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during first sitting of the 15^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for an hour and 17 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1541 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• Fifty (34%) legislators were present at the start and 45 (31%) at the end of the sitting.
• None of the Parliamentary Leaders attended the sitting.
• All four minority members were absent.

Output

• Provincial Minister for Law introduced two government bills in the House comprising the KP Police (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the KP Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2020.
• The Law minister also laid the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization Ordinance, 2020 in the House.
• Sponsored by a PTI lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to ensure legislation for launching digital currency (cryptocurrency) in the province.
• A resolution of the PPPP lawmaker was deferred on the request of the Law minister.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Ministers for Food and Labour responded to a Call Attention Notice (CAN) related to the land ownership issue in Swat while the Speaker answered another CAN regarding the appointment of Special Secretary in his office.
• A CAN on the agenda was also deferred due to the absence of the mover.
• The Chair referred the privilege motion of an ANP lawmaker to the relevant committee. The motion was moved against an official of the Tehsil Municipal Administration, Mohmand.

Order and Institutionalization

• Fifteen lawmakers spoke on points of order for 20 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on December 4, 2020 (Friday) at 1000 hours.

 Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

This daily factsheet is based on the direct observation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly proceedings conducted by the United Rural Development Organization (URDO) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted