ISLAMABAD, February 11, 2015: Starting 55 minutes behind schedule, the second sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 12th session was marked by low attendance of lawmakers, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Twenty legislators (5%) were present at the start of the sitting and 64 (17%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting. Among parliamentary leaders, only the PPPP leader was present.

The Minister for Labour & Human Resource presented the Punjab Security of Vulnerable Establishments Ordinance 2015, Punjab Information of Temporary Residents Ordinance 2015, Punjab Arms (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.

The quorum was pointed out by a female lawmaker belonging to PML. However, it was found to be complete upon counting. Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for one hour and 57 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1055 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• Twenty (5%) legislators were present at the start of the sitting and 64 (17%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 96 members (26%) were present.
• The sitting was entirely chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the PPPP leader attended the sitting.
• Two out of eight minority members were present.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The Minister for Labour & Human Resource presented the Punjab Security of Vulnerable Establishments Ordinance 2015, Punjab Information of Temporary Residents Ordinance 2015, Punjab Arms (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Eight (25%) out of 32 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant ministries/departments. In addition, the MPAs raised 22 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House took up four adjournment motions (AMs) regarding irregularities in the bidding process of land belonging to the Auqaf Department; use of poor construction material in Barala Canal, Faisalabad; non-implementation on construction by-laws in Lahore and absence of quality control laws for the fisheries department.
• A PML-N lawmaker’s privilege motion against District Coordination Officer Bhakkar was also taken up and sent to the relevant standing committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eleven points of order consumed seven minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• The quorum was pointed out by a female lawmaker belonging to PML. However, it was found to be complete upon counting.
• No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was unavailable to the observers and the public.

To download the document, click here

The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted.