ISLAMABAD, January 28, 2013: Starting 56 minute late, the 5th sitting of the 90th session of Senate was marked by low attendance and unaddressed agenda. Only four Senators were present at the start while 15 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 36 Senators were present at one point of sitting.

None of the nine agenda items appearing on the Orders of the Day was addressed. Four resolutions and three motions under rule 218 appearing on the agenda were dropped as the movers of these items were absent. Further, two resolutions were deferred.

Thirteen points of order consumed 35 minutes of the sitting, which met for 49 minutes on Monday. JUIF and BNPA Senators walked out of the House over Governor Rule in Balochistan 30 minutes before the adjournment of sitting and did not return to attend the rest of the proceedings.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for 49 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1656 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of 56 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Chairman was also present.
• The Leader of the House attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML, ANP and JUIF were present while those of MQM, BNPA, NP and PMLF did not attend the sitting.
• Only four Senators were present at the start, while 15 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 36 Senators were present at one point of sitting.
• One minority Senator attended the sitting.
• Four Senators applied for leave. 

 Representation and Responsiveness

• Three motions under rule 218 appearing on the Orders of the Day were dropped as the mover was absent.

 Output

• Four resolutions appearing on the agenda were dropped as the movers were absent.
• Two resolutions appearing on the agenda were deferred. Condemning the murder of an MQM MPA of Sindh Assembly, the first resolution called upon the government to honor the assassinated MPAs of KP and Sindh assemblies by awarding them posthumous Nishan-i-Pakistan. The other was about eradication of manufacturing and sale of spurious and substandard drugs.

Order and Institutionalization

• Thirteen points of order consumed 35 minutes (71%) of the sitting time.
• JUIF and BNPA Senators walked out of the House at 1715 hours over Governor Rule in Balochistan and did not return to attend the rest of the proceedings.

Transparency

• Orders of the day were available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN