ISLAMABAD, March 03, 2015: Starting 31 minutes behind the schedule, the third sitting of the Senate’s 111th session continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network.

Fifteen (14%) senators were present at the start of the sitting and 36 (35%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for two-thirds of the proceedings.

The Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented four reports on bills seeking amendments to the Constitution, while the Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Industry presented its report for March 2012-2015 during the sitting. In addition, the first quarterly report for the of State Bank of Pakistan’s Central Board for the fiscal year 2014-15 was presented by the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs

The House also took up a calling attention notice (CAN) sponsored by ANP lawmakers regarding non-provision of funds for ongoing gas projects in Lower Dir.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 12 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1101 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the sitting for an hour and 16 minutes, while the remaining proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Chairman.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 88 minutes.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• Fifteen members (14%) were present at the start and 36 (35%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 46 senators (44%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, MQM, PML-F, BNP-A, JUI-F and NP were absent.
• Two minority members were present during the sitting.
• None of the members applied for leave.

Output

• The Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented four reports on bills seeking amendments to the Constitution.
• The Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Industry presented its report for March 2012-2015.
• The first quarterly report of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Central Board for the fiscal year 2014-15 was presented by the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Representation and Responsiveness                    

• The House took up a CAN sponsored by ANP lawmakers regarding non-provision of funds for ongoing gas projects in Lower Dir.
• Nine out of 16 starred questions were taken up and responded by the relevant ministries. In addition, the legislators raised 32 supplementary questions.

Order and Institutionalization

• Thirteen points of order consumed 28 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• Opposition leaders along with PkMAP lawmaker staged a joint walkout at 1312 hours to protest the diversion of Pak-China Economic Corridor’s original route. The sitting ended one minute after they walked out of the House.

To download the document, click here

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way reflect the views of the European Union. This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.