ISLAMABAD, November 4, 2016: The Senators discussed the political situation in the country during one day session requisitioned by the Opposition on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

The House also adopted three resolutions condemning the Quetta incident and condoling the deaths of former Senators Syed Qammar-uz-Zaman Shah and Nargis Zaman Kiani.

Following are some key observations of the first and last sitting of Senate’s 254^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for four hours.
•  The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1530 hours.
• The House had a prayer break for 18 minutes.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was also present.
• The Leader of the House was present for three hours while the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML-N, PkMAP, ANP, BNP-M, MQM, JI and JUI-F attended the sitting.
• Thirty-nine members (38% of the total membership – 104) were present at the outset and 28 lawmakers (27%) at the end of the sitting.
• Two minority Senators attended the sitting.

Output

• The House adopted three resolutions. In two condolence resolutions, the House expressed grief and sorrow over the sad demise of former Senators Syed Qammar-uz-Zaman Shah and Nargis Zaman Kiani while the third resolution condemned attack at Police Training Centre in Quetta.
• The House witnessed presentation of reports of various Standing Committees on six legislative proposals.
• State Minister for Interior introduced the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2016 which was referred to the relevant committee for further deliberations.
• A report on Marginalized Segments of Society was presented.
• The Chairman Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges presented report on the proposed amendments in rules 56, 198 and 209 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House passed two motions under Rule 194 (1) to extend the presentation period of two reports.
• Twenty-one lawmakers debated a motion under Rule 218 about brutal crackdown on political workers in violation of fundamental rights, the  intended  closure  of  Islamabad and the violation of orders of Islamabad High Court on October 27,2 2016. They spoke on it for two hours and 58 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization 

• The Opposition lawmakers walked out of the House for three minutes over running advertisement campaign in media against Opposition through official resources by the Government. Earlier, they protested within the House for two minutes on the same issue.
• During walkout of the Opposition, a PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1914 hours following which the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. However, the quorum was found complete over return of the Opposition lawmakers after three minutes.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
•  The attendance of lawmakers is available on the website.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted