Three-year performance of provincial assemblies assessed

ISLAMABAD: As the provincial assemblies have completed their third parliamentary year, a PILDAT comparative assessment of the performance of Pakistan’s four provincial assemblies shows that Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan attended the highest percentage (29%) of sittings of the provincial assembly followed by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah who attended 21% sittings of the Sindh Assembly, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar attended 8% sittings of the Punjab Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan attended only 5% sittings of the provincial assembly.

The PILDAT comparative assessment shows that the provincial assemblies outrank each other in different key performance indicators (KPIs), each assembly records a decline in legislation, working hours and attendance of the chief ministers compared to second parliamentary year. The PILDAT assessment suggested that instead of accelerating their performance on each of the KPIs, the provincial assemblies have shown a declining trend across most, if not all, KPIs.

Much like the previous years, little or no initiative has been taken in inviting public input and involvement and enhancing transparency and access for citizens. The Provincial Assembly of Punjab has met for the highest number of sittings, 61, during the third parliamentary year in a comparative analysis of sittings. However, the sittings of the Punjab Assembly have reduced by about 9% from 67 in the year 2 to 61 in the third parliamentary year.

The Provincial Assembly of Sindh has met for 57 sittings during the year. The sittings of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh during the third year have declined by 16% from the 68 sittings held in the second parliamentary year. The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ranks third in terms of holding 55 sittings in the year 3. The sittings of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the year 3 have recorded an increase of nearly 6% from the second parliamentary year when the assembly had held 52 sittings.

The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan which ranks last in the comparative analysis of working days during the third parliamentary year among four provincial assemblies met for 49 sittings. The Balochistan Assembly during the third parliamentary year has seen an increase of 48% over 33 sittings held during the second year.

During the third year, average working hours per sitting work out to be 1.42 in the Punjab Assembly, 2.13 in the Sindh Assembly, 2.4 in the KP Assembly and 2.32 in the Balochistan Assembly.

During the third parliamentary year, the allocated budget per working hour is calculated to be Rs 25.7 million in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Rs 21.6 million per working hour in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, Rs 17.2 million per working hour in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan and Rs 8.8 million per working hour in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In this sense, the KP Assembly is the most cost-effective followed by the Balochistan Assembly and the Sindh Assembly with the Punjab Assembly being the least cost effective. The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ranks on the top when compared with other assemblies in terms of 147.02 working hours during the third year. The working hours of the assembly have recorded an increase of about 30% when compared to 113.32 working hours during the second year of the assembly.

The Provincial Assembly of Sindh has met for 126.14 working hours which is a decrease of about 25% in working hours compared to the second year when the assembly met for 168.15 working hours. The working hours of 124 during the third parliamentary year in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan have increased by about 11% from the second parliamentary year when the assembly had met for 111.39 working hours.

In its third parliamentary year, the Punjab Assembly has been convened for 102.44 hours compared to 140.32 hours during the second parliamentary year, recording a decrease of 27% in working hours between two years.

In general, with each passing parliamentary year, each provincial assembly has witnessed a decrease in attendance of the chief ministers in assembly sessions with the only exception of the CM Punjab whose attendance during the third year improved by a miniscule 1 percentage over the second year.

Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, Malik Sikandar Khan, tops the comparative analysis as he attended 73% sittings of the Balochistan Assembly during the third parliamentary year. The attendance of the leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly was 63%. (It must be noted that Syed Firdous Shamim Naqvi, MPA, resigned as leader of the opposition on January 8, 2021 and Haleem Adil Sheikh, MPA, replaced him on January 26, 2021. This is a combined attendance of both.) Akram Khan Durrani, MPA, and leader of opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attended 31% sittings of the assembly. Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, MPA and leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, only attended 5% sittings of the assembly in the third parliamentary year.

During the third parliamentary year ending on August 12, 2021, the Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed 38 bills, followed by the Provincial Assembly of Punjab which passed 34 bills. The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa passed 33 bills and the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan passed 26 bills.

In terms of average bills passed by each provincial assembly in three years of the current term compared to the 3 years average of previous terms of each provincial assembly, only the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded an improved legislative activity of average 122 bills compared to 83 bills in the previous tenure. This is an increase of 47% in the average legislative activity.

The Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed an average of 74 bills or 35% fewer bills in the first three years compared to the average of 114 bills passed by the previous assembly in first three years. The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan passed 45 bills on average in the first three years, which is a decrease of 25% bills compared to average 60 bills passed in the first three years of the previous Balochistan Assembly.

The Provincial Assembly of Punjab passed an average of 92 bills in the first three years which is a decrease of 19% compared to the average of 114 bills passed by the previous Punjab Assembly in the first three years.

In the third parliamentary year, the Provincial Assembly of Punjab spent 12 days in the budget session, down from 13 days spent in the year 2. The budget session during the third parliamentary year in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was only 9 days compared to 7 days in the year 2. The Provincial Assembly of Sindh spent 8 days in its budget session during the parliamentary year 3, compared to 10 days of budget session in the parliamentary year 2. The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan utilized only 7 days in its budget session during the third parliamentary year, consistent with the number of days in the year 2.