ISLAMABAD, December 11, 2018: The Punjab Assembly adopted three resolutions on Tuesday condemning the attack on Chinese Consulate in Karachi and recommending the government to raise awareness on human rights and improve security cameras in Lahore, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 26 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1211 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
• The Leaders of the House and Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 70 MPAs (19%) were present at the outset and 96 (26%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leader of Rah-e-Haq Party attended the proceedings.
• Only two out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Moved as supplementary agenda, the House unanimously adopted a resolution recommending the government to declare 2019 as year for raising awareness about fundamental human rights.
• The House adopted two private members’ resolutions to condemn the terror attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi and to urge the government to improve the performance of the cameras installed by Punjab Safe City Authority.
• The House deferred two private members’ resolutions due to absence of the concerned minister or the mover.
• The House rejected a PML-N lawmaker’s resolution seeking reversal of the federal government’s decision to revoke the agricultural subsidy on tube wells.
• A PTI lawmaker withdrew her resolution regarding employment opportunities for beggars.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred two Adjournment Motions (AMs) as the relevant ministers were not prepared to respond to the AMs.

• The Minister for Health responded to a PTI lawmaker’s Zero Hour Notice regarding increase in fee of private medical colleges.
• The House took up four out of nine Starred questions during the proceedings. These questions were addressed to the ministries of Revenue & Colonies and Services & General Administration. As many as three questions were deferred due to unpreparedness of the relevant ministries and two due to the absence of the movers. The lawmakers asked eight supplementary questions as well.

 Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised 18 Points of Order consuming as many minutes of the proceedings.

• The opposition lawmakers staged a three-minute walkout against rejection of a PML-N lawmaker’s resolution.

• The House was adjourned to meet again on December 12, 2018 (Tuesday) 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.