ISLAMABAD, July 13, 2012: The last sitting of Senate’s 83rd session witnessed a walkout by the JUIF, PMLN, PML, ANP, MQM and a single PPPP Senator over the attacks in Bajour agency, bomb blast in Quetta and the law and order in the country on Friday.
Beginning 40 minutes late, the sitting lasted an hour and 56 minutes. Members raised 16 Points of Order which consumed 60 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of them attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting. However, only 11 Senators were present at the start and nine were there when the sitting was adjourned.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for an hour and 56 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1040 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started late by 40 minutes.
- The Chairman chaired the sitting.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of the ANP, JUI and PMLF attended the sitting.
- Eleven Senators (11% of total Membership) were present at the start, while nine (9%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
- Two minority Members were present.
- One Member applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Seven of 29 questions appearing on the Agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, a total of 17 supplementary questions were also asked.
- One Calling Attention Notice appearing on the Orders of the Day was not taken up.
Output
- No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.
- A Resolution about the Gwadar water issue was unanimously adopted by the House
Order and Institutionalization
- Sixteen Points of Order consumed 60 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- The JUIF, PMLN, PML, ANP, MQM and single PPPP legislator staged a walkout over the attacks in Bajour Agency, Quetta bomb blast and general law and order in the country.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ 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
