ISLAMABAD, March 05, 2018:  The quorum issue persisted in the Punjab Assembly on Monday as the sitting remained suspended for an hour and 39 minutes due to the presence of less than 25 percent lawmakers in the House, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 21^st sitting of the 34^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 19 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1447 hours against the scheduled time 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for five minutes.
• As many as 19 MPAs (5%) were present at outset and 43 (12%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PTI and PML-Z were present during the proceedings.
• As many as five minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• The House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn bombing and killing of innocent Syrians.
• Standing Committees on Health and Livestock and Dairy Development presented their reports in the House regarding bills referred to them.
• The House did not consider three audit reports on the agenda due to early adjournment of sitting.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• Only one out of 14 Starred Questions were answered during the proceedings. In addition, the lawmakers asked two supplementary questions as well.
• Two Adjournment Motions (AMs) were deferred due to absence of relevant authorities who had to respond them.
• Two CANs appearing on the agenda were not taken up due to absence of Law Minister.
• The House did not hold pre-budget discussion due to early adjournment of sitting.

 Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised eight Points of Order consuming eight minutes of the proceedings.
•  A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1525 hours which led to the suspension of the proceedings for an hour and 39 minutes. Later, the proceeding started at 1703 hours but the Chair had to adjourn it after three minutes due to lack of quorum.
• The House was adjourned to meet again at 1000 hours on Tuesday, March 6, 2018.

Transparency

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