ISLAMABAD, February 26, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab adopted three resolutions on Tuesday including a unanimous resolution against Indian strike inside Pakistani territory, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 38 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1240 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 16 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 45 MPAs (12%) were present at the outset and 40 (11%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leader of PPPP attended the proceedings.
• As many as six out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Jointly sponsored by the lawmakers belonging to treasury and opposition, the House unanimously adopted a supplementary resolution condemning the Indian attack on Muzaffarabad Sector and urging the federal government to raise the issue on international level. As many as 10 lawmakers debated the resolution for 28 minutes.
• The House condoled the death of two former members of Provincial Assembly of Punjab through a resolution moved by PML-N lawmaker.
• The House also adopted a PML-N lawmaker’s resolution urging the provincial government to take steps to control smuggling of drugs and amend the related laws.
• As many as 12 private member’s resolutions appearing on the agenda were deferred due to absence of the relevant ministers.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Ministers for Agriculture and Communication & Works responded to two out of 13 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda while remaining 11 questions were not taken up. The lawmakers asked three supplementary questions as well.
• A PML-N lawmaker’s Adjournment Motion was deferred due to absence of the relevant minister.

Order and Institutionalization

• As many as 11 lawmakers spoke on Point of Orders for 14 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on February 27, 2019 (Wednesday) 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.