ISLAMABAD, June 09, 2015: The Upper House on Tuesday adopted a resolution to condemn the massacre of Muslims in Burma, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Starting at the scheduled time, the Senate sitting witnessed low attendance of lawmakers as 15 members (14%) were present at the start and 28 (27%) at the end of the sitting.

The House started debate on federal budget for making recommendations to the National Assembly on the Finance Bill 2015.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for four hours and three minutes.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting for three hours and 25 minutes while the remaining proceedings were presided over by the Deputy Chairman.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Opposition Leader was present for three hours and 30 minutes.
• Parliamentary leaders of MQM, PkMAP, PTI, PPPP, BNP-M, NP, PML-N, ANP, JI, PML-F and PML attended the sitting.
• 15 members (14% of the total membership – 104) were present at the outset and 28 (27%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 52 lawmakers (50%) were present at the time of adjournment.
• Three minority Senators attended the sitting.
• One lawmaker applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by PML lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to condemn the killing of Muslims in Burma.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Leader of the Opposition opened debate on federal budget and spoke for an hour and 20 minutes.
• Seven other lawmakers- MQM & PML-N (2 each) and one each of BNP-M, PML-F and PTI- also participated in the debate that continued for 130 minutes.
• The House passed a motion to extend time period for presentation of report on the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill, 2015 till June 26, 2015.

Order and Institutionalization

• A point of order consumed one minute of the sitting.
• The entire opposition led by ANP walked out of the House for three minutes over reservations regarding allocation of less budget for China Pak Economic Corridor route in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• MQM lawmakers also walked out of the House for five minutes over ignoring Karachi in the federal budget.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Senators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.  

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This publication is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.