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2013 to 2016

Provincial Assembly of Balochistan

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FAFEN LEGISLATIVE TRACKER

BALOCHISTAN PA: ROLE OF STANDING COMMITTEES REMAIN WEAK IN LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

The committees in the Parliamentary democracies are considered as eyes and ears of the legislature. Their role is important to oversee and monitor the working of various ministries of the government and much of the House business is handled through them. However, in the case of 10th Balochsitan Assembly, the role of Standing Committees has not remained effective, as most of the legislation has been completed without seeking their input.

The 10th Provincial Assembly of Balochistan has passed 60 government bills during 35 sessions held between June 1, 2013 and November 12, 2016, focusing mainly on Governance, Parliamentary Affairs, Economy, Education and Human Rights. A total of 64 government bills were introduced during the reporting period, 60 among them were sailed through without any hurdles in the presence of five-party government alliance in the House. The treasury and opposition lawmakers did not take interest in Private Members' Bills as no such bill was introduced during the reporting period.

Of 60 legislative proposals endorsed by the Provincial Assembly, only 11 proposals were forwarded to the relevant Standing Committees for deliberations. Four of these bills dealt with Governance issues, followed by Education and Human Rights (2 each) and one each on Health, Economy and Government Employees.

As many as 49 bills were passed without referring them to the relevant Standing Committees, which were related to Governance, Education, Economy, Parliamentary Affairs and Elections.

According to Rule 128, there shall be elected by the Assembly, as soon as may be, the 14

Standing Committees, for the duration of the Assembly, which shall deal with legislation relating to the Department or Departments of the Provincial Government. Rule 136 says that the Assembly may, on a motion made by any Member, remit to the Standing Committee concerned any subject or matter which may be studied by that Standing Committee with a view to suggesting legislation.

The previous (9th) Balochistan Assembly (2008-13), on the other hand, witnessed the passage of 39 bills while the incumbent Provincial Assembly has so far passed 36 (60%) new bills relating to various issues while the remaining 24 passed bills (40%) sought amendments to the existing laws.

The committees took longer time to report on 11 legislative proposals referred to them by the House. On average, each committee took 165 days (23.5 weeks) to pass each government bill. In addition, one of the committees took the longest duration of 532 days to report on the Balochistan Child Protection Bill, 2015 while the shortest period between introduction and passage of the Balochistan Witness Protection Bill, 2015 was 37 days.

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Legislation 2013-2016Provincial Assembly of Balochistan

No Private Member's Bill Introduced in 10th Balochistan Assembly

Provincial Assembly of Balochistan

9th10th Assembly

June 2013 to November 2016

2008 - 2013Duration

60 39Government Bills Passed

Governance Issues Top Priority in Legislation

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10th Balochistan Assembly

60Bills Passed

Bills Passed After Deliberation in Standing Committees

11Bills Passed without referring to Standing Committees

49

LEGISLATION IN BALCOHSITAN ASSEMBLY

Legislation Type

AmendmentPassed

NewLegislation

3624

The 10th Provincial Assembly of Balochistan has not witnessed introduction of any single Private Member Bill since June 1, 2013, as all legislative proposals were moved by the treasury lawmakers during the reporting period. In all 35 sessions held between June 1, 2013 and November 12, 2016, the Balochistan Assembly witnessed introduction of 64 government bills, among them 60 were passed by the House. All these bills became Act after getting assent of the Provincial Governor.

In most of the cases, Balochistan Assembly did not follow the procedure to forward the bills to relevant Standing Committees for further deliberations. Rule 84 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Balochistan Assembly says that upon introduction, a Bill (including an Ordinance laid before the Assembly) shall be referred by the Speaker to the appropriate Standing Committee with direction to submit its report by a date fixed by him in this behalf. However, the House passed 49 bills without referring them to relevant Standing Committees by passing a motion to get exemption from the relevant rule.

The remaining 11 bills were passed following reports of the relevant Standing Committees, six among them received recommendations of the committees while five bills were passed as introduced in the House. Three bills were forwarded to the Committee on Home and Tribal Affairs, Prisons, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA); while two bills each were referred to the Committee on Industries, Mining, Mineral Development, Labour and Manpower Home; Special Committee; Committee on Social Welfare, Women Development, Zakat Usher, Hajj Auqaf, Minority Youth Affairs; Committee on Health and Population Welfare and one Committee on S&GAD, Inter-provincial

Coordination, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Prosecution and Human Rights.

Of the 11 government bills, the Assembly, on average, took 165 days (23.5 weeks) to pass each bill. The maximum delay in introduction and passage of a bill was witnessed in Balochistan Child Protection Bill, 2015 which took a long period of 532 days to pass it. Two other bills, including the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences Quetta (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar (Amendment) Bill, 2104 were passed 371 days after being introduced in the House.

The Balochistan Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill, 2015 was passed after a gap of 154 days while two other bills – the Balochistan Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Balochistan Witness Protection Bill, 2015 – were passed after 87 days. It took 61 days to pass the Balochistan Employees Efficiency and Discipline (Amendment) Bill, 2016 after its introduction in the House while the Balochistan Industrial Relations Bill, 2015, the

Average Period between Introduction and Passage of 11 Bills

165 days or 23.5 weeks

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Balochistan Boiler and Pressure Vessels Bill, 2015 and the Balochistan Thalassemia Prevention and Protection Bill, 2015 were passed after a gap of 55 days after being introduced. Similarly, the House consumed 37 days to pass the Balochistan Witness Protection Bill, 2015 after getting report of the relevant Standing Committee.

Of the 11 bills forwarded to the relevant Standing Committees, seven were such on which one meeting each of the relevant Standing Committee was held; two bills got clearance after four meetings of the relevant Standing Committee; one bill was cleared after three meetings of a relevant Standing Committee and seven meetings were held on one bill to give recommendations to the House for passage.

Standing Committees Recommendations

Passed as Introduced 5 Bills

AmendmentsRecommended by Standing Committees 6 Bills

A total of 35 sessions were held from June 1, 2013 to November 12, 2016. A maximum number of 13 bills were passed during 7th session, followed by eight in 21st session, five in 12th session; four in 13th session, three

bills each in 10th, 14th, 17th, 19th and 20th sessions; two bills each in 2nd, 5th, 16th, 26th and 34th sessions and one bill each in 8th, 22nd, 25th, 27th and 35th sessions.

SESSION-WISE LEGISLATION:

YEAR-WISE LEGISLATION:

During the first parliamentary year of Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, 21 government bills were passed followed by 17 bills during the second parliamentary year, 19 in third parliamentary year and three in

ongoing fourth parliamentary year. Of total 60 passed bills, 30 bills were introduced by NP lawmakers, 18 by PML-N lawmakers, 10 by PkMAP lawmakers and two by PML lawmakers.

Session Wise Legislation

3

Session No. Bills Passed

2 2

5 2

7 13

8 1

10 3

12 5

13 4

14 3

16 2

17 3

19 3

20 3

21 8

22 1

25 1

26 2

27 1

34 2

35 1

Session No. Bills Passed

Total 60

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LEGISLATIVE INTEREST OF 10TH BALOCHISTAN ASSEMBLY:

During the tenure of 10th incumbent Provincial Assembly, the issue of Governance remained a prevailing theme in the legislation. The House passed 17 bills on Governance focusing on wild life protection, establishment of food authority to protect public health by providing hygienic food, management and monitoring affairs of hotels, rented buildings and travel agencies, provision and protection to witnesses and prohibition of expressing matters on walls.

The other important legislative area of the current Assembly is Economy. The House passed 10 bills on the subject, among them three were Finance Bills while others were mainly related to the issues of procurement, prohibition of private money lending, revenue and sales tax.

The House also legislated to improve the salary packages of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Ministers, Provincial Ministers and Members of the House. Ten bills were passed during last three and half years in this regard.

The House passed five bills which were related to Education sector. These bills were about free and compulsory education in the province, inculcating amendments in the existing laws regarding education and managing registration and other affairs of

private educational institutions i.e. Registration and Regulation Authority Bill, 2015

Four bills passed were directly linked to issues of Human Rights. These were related to protection to women and children from domestic violence; setting up borstal institute for juvenile prisoners; protecting children from violence, harm, injury, abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment and exploitation in Balochistan and curbing the harassment of women at workplaces.

On election related issues, three bills, including the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2013; the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2015 were passed by the House during the reporting period.

The House witnessed passage of three bills each on issues of Health and Government Employees, followed by two bills on Culture & Heritage and one bill each on Tourism, Judiciary and Religious Affairs.

The House managed to pass 36 (60%) new bills on various issues while the remaining 24 passed bills (40%) sought amendments to the existing laws.

thLegislative Interest of 10 Balochistan Assembly

Governance

17Parliamentary

Affairs

10Service Affairs

3

Health

3Judiciary

1

Human Rights

4Elections

3

Education

5Economy

10Religious Affairs

1Tourism

1Culture & Heritage

2

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ANNEXURE

Bills Considered by Standing Committees

Bill TitleNo.

The Balochistan University of IT, Engineering and MS Quetta (Amendment) Bill, 2014

The Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar (Amendment) Bill, 2104

The Balochistan Child Protection Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Industrial Relations Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Boiler and Pressure Vessels Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Thalassemia Prevention and Protection Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Sound System (Regulation) Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Witness Protection Bill, 2015

The Balochistan Employees Ef�ciency and Discipline (Amendment) Bill, 2016

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Standing Committees Considering Referred Bills

1Committee on Home and Tribal Affairs, Prisons, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA)

Committee on Industries, Mining Mineral Development, Labour and Manpower Home

Special Committee

Committee on Social Welfare, Women Development, Zakat usher, Hajj Auqaf, Minority Youth Affair

Committee on Health and Population Welfare

Committee on S&GAD, Interprovincial coordination, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Prosecution and Human rights

Bills not referred to the Standing Committees

Total

2

3

4

5

6

7

3

2

2

2

1

1

49

60

Standing CommitteeNo. Bills

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