ISLAMABAD, November 22, 2012: Starting 45 minutes late, the tenth and the last sitting of 87th session on Thursday deferred the Constitution (Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Constitution (Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2012.
The sitting witnessed low attendance of Senators. Only 12 were present at the outset while 48 were there at the adjournment.
The Chairman, the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the House and the parliamentary leaders of PML, NP, ANP, JUIF and MQM attended the sitting.
Five out of seven Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were raised and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, 12 supplementary questions were also asked.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for an hour and 49 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1645 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started late by 45 minutes.
- The Chairman chaired the sitting. The Deputy Chairman was not present.
- The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 35 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML, NP, ANP, JUIF and MQM attended the sitting.
- Twelve Senators were present at the start of the sitting while 48 were there at adjournment. A maximum of 48 Senators were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
- Six Senators applied for leave.
- Two minority senators were present.
- The House took a 72-minute break for prayer.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Five out of seven Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were raised and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, 12 supplementary questions were also asked.
Output
- Two bills – the Constitution (Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Constitution (Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2012 were deferred.
Order and Institutionalization
- No point of order was raised during the sitting.
- There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN
