ISLAMABAD, September 8, 2015: The Punjab Assembly adopted five resolutions during last sitting of 16th session on Tuesday as the House continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
The sitting started 35 minutes behind the schedule with 12 (3%) members present at the start and 40 (11%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting. However, the Opposition Leader was present for 69% of the proceedings’ time.
The adopted resolutions dealt with issues of governance, disaster management, tributes to those fighting against terrorist elements, condemning Indian aggression at Working Boundary and recognition to services Ranjeet Singh.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 58 minutes
- Sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of 35 minutes
- Only 12 (3%) members were present at the start and 40 (11%) at the time of sitting’s adjournment
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting
- The Opposition Leader was present for 82 minutes
- Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI leader was present
- Two out of eight minority members attended the sitting
- Thirty-three members applied for leave
Output
- The House adopted five resolutions which were about paying tributes to those fighting against terrorist elements, assistance to flood victims in South Punjab, sale of meat at rates prescribed by the provincial government, attributing any road or building with name of Ranjeet Singh as an acknowledgment to his services for economic and social development and condemning Indian aggression at Working Boundary.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took an adjournment motion regarding non-allocation of scholarships for those securing top positions in grade 5th and 8th class exams being held under auspices of Punjab Examination Commission.
- A PTI female lawmaker’s privilege motion regarding lack of response by DPO Jhelum after firing incident on her son and employees was taken up and referred to the relevant committee.
- Five out of 21 starred questions appearing on the agenda were answered by the relevant department while the MPAs also raised 14 supplementary questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised 11 Points of Order that consumed 12 minutes of the proceedings’ time
- No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed during the entire sitting
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others
- Information on members’ attendance was available to the observers and public
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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.
