ISLAMABAD, May 15, 2015: The Punjab Assembly witnessed low attendance of lawmakers on Friday as the House unanimously adopted two resolutions to lament the tragedies in Naltar and Karachi, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 79 minutes behind the schedule with 48 lawmakers (13%) present at the start and 20 (5%) at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for nearly the entire duration.

The Law Minister presented the the Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Mass transit Authority Ordinance 2015 during the sitting.

Following are some key observations from the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 33 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1619 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for one hour and 50 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for six minutes.
• The House observed a prayer break for 37 minutes.
• 48 members (13%) were present at the start and 20 (5%) at the time of adjournment.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for two hours and 26 minutes.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI leader was present.
• Three out of eight minority members attended the sitting.

Output

• The House unanimously adopted two resolutions to lament the helicopter crash in Naltar last week and to condemn the targeted attack on the Ismaili community in Karachi on Wednesday.
• The Law Minister presented the Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Mass transit Authority Ordinance 2015. 

Representation and Responsiveness

• Thirteen out of 35 questions were taken up and responded by the relevant department. In addition, the lawmakers raised 23 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House took an adjournment motion regarding the illegal occupation of a building by an influential person in a remote area of Rajanpur.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised two points of order that consumed one minute of the sitting.
• The sitting witnessed a three-minute walkout by opposition lawmakers over non-allocation of development funds.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.

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This 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 excepted.