ISLAMABAD, September 7, 2015: Starting two hours and nine minutes behind schedule, the ninth sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s ongoing 16th session was adjourned due to lack of quorum after meeting for an hour and nine minutes, says Free and Fair Election Network in its daily factsheet.

An Independent lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1713 hours, following which the Deputy Speaker ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. However, quorum was found to be incomplete after the count, following which the sitting was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday.

The House continued to witness low attendance with only 31 (8%) legislators present at the start and 52 (14%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting while only PPPP Parliamentary Leader attended the sitting.

Two Bills–the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the University of Okara Bill, 2015–were not taken up due to the adjournment of sitting. The House did not take up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about law and order due to absence of Provincial Minister for Law.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and nine minutes
• Sitting started at 1609 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours, witnessing a delay of two hours and nine minutes
• Only 31 (8%) members were present at the start and 52 (14%) at the time of sitting’s adjournment
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the PPPP leader was present
• Two out of eight minority members attended the sitting
• None of the members applied for leave
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• An adjournment motion regarding lack of health facilities in rural area of `Chak Jhumra’ was taken up
• Six out of 16 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 ten Points of Order that consumed seven minutes of the proceedings’ time
• An Independent lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1713 hours, following which the Deputy Speaker ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. However, quorum was found to be incomplete after the count and the sitting was adjourned till Tuesday
• 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

To download the factsheet, click here

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.