ISLAMABAD, February 13, 2015: The fourth sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 12th session was adjourned due to lack of quorum after meeting for an hour and 54 minutes, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet on Friday.

The House continued to witness low attendance, with 15 (4%) members present at the start of the sitting and 63 (17%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting. Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI and PPPP leaders were present.

The House did not take up any agenda item on the List of Business, which included the presentation of seven reports.

The quorum was pointed out by an independent lawmaker at 1143 hours but was found to be complete upon counting. However, the legislator pointed out the quorum once again at 1158 hours, which led to the sitting’s adjournment due to presence of less than 25% lawmakers.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 54 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1009 hours against the scheduled time of 0900 hours.
• Fifteen members (4%) were present at the start of the sitting and 63 (17%) at the time of adjournment.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI and PPPP leaders were present.
• Two out of eight minority members attended the proceedings.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The House did not take up any agenda item on the List of Business, which included the presentation of seven reports.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Eight out of 31 starred questions were taken up and responded by the relevant departments during the sitting. In addition, the MPAs raised 18 supplementary questions.
• A Question of Privilege raised by a PML-N lawmaker against Rawalpindi Public Health District Planning Officer was taken up and referred to the relevant standing committee.
• An adjournment motion moved by a PML member regarding corruption in funds allocated for prevention of measles in Faisalabad was also taken up and responded by the relevant department.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised eight points of order that consumed six minutes of the sitting.
• PML lawmakers staged a three-minute token walkout against the inappropriate attitude of the Minister for Industries, Commerce & Investment while replying to a question.
• The quorum was pointed out by an independent lawmaker at 1143 hours but was found to be complete upon counting. However, the legislator pointed out the quorum once again at 1158 hours, which led to the sitting’s adjournment due to presence of less than 25% lawmakers.

Transparency

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

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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.