ISLAMABAD, May 21, 2015: The fifth sitting of the Punjab Assembly was adjourned without completing its agenda due to missing quorum on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 48 minutes behind the schedule with 14 members present at the start and 75 at the time of adjournment. The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 18% of the proceedings’ time.

The House passed the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (Amendment) Bill 2015 but did not take up the Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore Bill 2015, the University of Jhang Bill 2015 and the University of Sahiwal Bill 2015.

The Law Minister presented the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and introduced the University of Okara Bill 2015, which had been left unaddressed on Wednesday due to the minister’s absence.

The sitting remained suspended for nearly one hour when the quorum was pointed out by a PTI lawmaker at 1400 hours. Once the sitting resumed, the quorum was pointed out again at 1601 hours, leading to the proceedings’ adjournment till Friday. Following are some key observations of the assembly business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for five hour and 19 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1048 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for three hours and 54 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the proceedings for 24 minutes.
• The sitting remained suspended for 61 minutes due to missing quorum.
• 14 members (4%) were present at the start and 75 (19%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 107 (29%) members were present at one point of the sitting.
• The Chief Minister was not present.
• The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for 58 minutes.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI leader was present.
• Five out of eight minority members were present.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The House passed the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (Amendment) Bill 2015.
• The Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore Bill 2015, the University of Jhang Bill 2015 and University of Sahiwal Bill 2015 were not taken up despite being on the agenda.
• The Law Minister presented the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and introduced the University of Okara Bill 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up five out of 24 starred questions on the agenda, while the lawmakers raised 21 another supplementary questions.
• The House took up four calling attention notices on the Orders of the Day.
• Two adjournment motions on the sale of stolen diesel at petrol pumps and controlling child sexual harassment were also taken up during the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised six points of order that consumed three minutes of the sitting.
• The sitting witnessed an 11-minute walkout by the opposition against the joint investigation team’s report on the Model Town incident.
• An independent lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1232 hours, which was found to be complete upon counting
• A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum again at 1321 hours, which was again found to be complete upon counting.
• Another PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1400 hours, following which the sitting was suspended for 61 minutes.
• Likewise, the quorum was pointed out by PTI again at 1601 hours, which led to the sitting’s adjournment till Friday.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and the public.
• Information on members’ attendance was available to the observers and the 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 excepted.