ISLAMABAD, March 4, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab was adjourned on Monday due to the lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during ninth sitting of the seventh session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours.
• The sitting started at 1633 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 37 minutes while a member of the Panel of Chairpersons presided over the rest of the proceedings as the Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 57 minutes.
• As many as 90 MPAs (24%) were present at the outset and 46 (12%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leader of PPPP attended the proceedings.
• As many as four out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• The Minister for Law initiated the discussion on the Annual Report of the Punjab Public Service Commission for the year 2011.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Minister for Law responded to two Call Attention Notices (CANs) regarding an incident of murder in Lahore and a dacoity in Sahiwal. Both CANs were moved by PML-N lawmakers.
• The Minister for Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries responded to four Starred Questions appearing on the agenda. The lawmakers asked nine supplementary questions as well.
• The Minister for Health responded to two Adjournment Motions (AM) regarding the unavailability of ambulance at Municipal Committee Mamun Kanjan, Faisalabad, and grave financial situation of public hospitals in Lahore. The motions were sponsored by the lawmakers belonging to PML-N.
• The Minister for Food responded to an PML-N lawmaker’s AM regarding unnecessary storage of wheat stocks in godowns.
• The Minister for Local Government responded to a PPPP lawmaker’s AM regarding sewerage problems in Tehsil Jampur.
• The Chair deferred a PTI lawmaker’s AM due to unpreparedness of the Minister of Local Government.

Order and Institutionalization

• As many as 24 lawmakers spoke on Point of Orders for 34 minutes.
• The lawmakers belonging to PPPP and PML-N staged a walkout against the remarks by their colleague about the people of Chiniot.
• A PML-N lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1816 hours leading to the ringing of bells for five minutes. However, the quorum was found incomplete on headcount after the bells and the House was adjourned to meet again on March 05, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1100 hours.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
• Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.

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.