ISLAMABAD, March 8: Six bills were passed in the tenth sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 35th session on Thursday as the House continued to witness low attendance of Members.

Only 15 Members were present at the start and 35 at the adjournment of the sitting. The Quorum, visible lacking at various staged of the sitting, was pointed out by a PML Member as the bells were rung for five minutes.

Starting one hour and 35 minutes behind schedule, the sitting lasted four hours and 35 minutes.

A maximum of 93 MPAs were observed present at one point of the sitting. Only the parliamentary leader of MMAP attended the sitting. The Speaker chaired the sitting. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present in the House.

Out of 25 Starred Questions listed for the Question Hour, 12 were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Thirty four supplementary questions were asked.

Twenty-three Points Of Order consumed 32 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for four hours and 35 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1135 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started one hour and 35 minutes late.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present.
• Only the parliamentary leader of MMAP attended the sitting.
• Fifteen Members (4% of the Membership – 369) were present at the start while 35 (9%) were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 93 Members (25%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• Five minority Members were present.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• A Calling Attention Notice moved by a PML Member was taken up and sent to the Ministry of Law.
• Out of 25 Starred Questions listed for the Question Hour, 12 were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Thirty four supplementary questions were asked.
  

Output

• The House passed Six bills- the Punjab Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Punjab Public Defender Service Act 2007 (Repeal) Bill 2011, the Punjab Government Servants Housing Foundation (Amendment) Bill 2011, the Settlement Commissioners (Validation Of Orders) (Repeal) Bill 2011, the Evacuee Property And Displaced Persons Laws (Repeal) (Amendment) Bill 2011 and the Walled City Of Lahore Bill 2011.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Twenty-three Points Of Order consumed 32 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visible lacking at various staged of the sitting. A PML Member pointed out Quorum and the bells were rung for five minutes.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization, a member organization of FAFEN