The 84th session was convened to debate the presidential address to the parliament’s joint sitting and the law and order in Balochistan. However the debate on the president’s address was noticeably brief, lasting only 40 minutes. The session was otherwise marked by lack of consensus among Senators on issues of national importance, low attendance and participation through tabling agenda and/or taking part in debates, while a large portion of private members’ agenda was left unaddressed.
Only 14 Senators debated on the motion regarding law and order in Balochistan consuming only 34% (four hours and 55 minutes) of the session’s time. The province has long been home to ethnic and religious/sectarian tensions, with frequent reports of violence against the Shia Hazaras. In addition, security forces and the state infrastructure are the targets of both separatists and Baloch nationalists, who among other things are unhappy with the royalties given to the province after exploitation of natural resources like gas. Human rights abuses against the Baloch, allegedly at the hand of state security forces and intelligence agencies, are also reported by national and international media.
Five PPPP Senators, three ANP, two JUIF and a single Senator each of PMLN, MQM, BNPA and NP took part in the debate on the restive province. Legislators belonging to PML, PMLF and IND remained silent on the issue. To wrap up the debate, the minister for interior spoke on the motion for two hours and 14 minutes.
At the end of a parliamentary year, the President addresses a joint session of parliament and both the Upper and Lower Houses debate the address. Only three Senators debated the address for a mere 5% (40 minutes) of the session’s duration. The former interior minister who had stepped down for having dual nationality, took oath on his reelection during the second sitting amid a walkout by PMLN and NP Senators contending that the session was unjustly summoned only for this purpose, and lacked substantial agenda on the orders of the day.
On the other hand, most of the ambitious agenda set for the only private members’ day of the session was left unaddressed, including motions under rule 218 regarding housing schemes of low paid government employees, Pakistan Railways, sale of sub-standard medicines in the country, contaminated water, and the performance of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. This reflects the trends of the previous session, when seven motions under rule 218 were also not taken up.
Other issues of national importance such as missing persons, law and order in Karachi, shelter houses for senior citizens, waterborne diseases and free health facilities to citizens of ICT etc. brought to the House through resolutions were ignored. Ironically, a resolution condemning violence against Muslims in Myanmar was adopted by the House, in contrast to lackluster debate on law and order and human rights violations closer to home in Balochistan A Calling Attention Notice on delaying payments and incomplete rehabilitation process for those affected by the Mangla Dam Raising Project was adopted by the House.
Out of the 94 points of order, 17 were about business of the House and 12 on the issues of Balochistan.
However the Chair did not give a formal ruling on any of the points of order. The quality of the proceedings of any legislature can be gauged not only by the agenda set for the sittings, but also the duration of the session and the attendance and participation of members. The session comprising six sittings lasted 14 hours and 22 minutes. On average, each sitting met for two hours and 24 minutes and was delayed by 38 minutes.
Senators’ participation remained low. Only 37 Senators participated in submitting and debating the agenda. Out of the 37 Senators who took part in the proceedings, 16 belonged to PPPP, six PMLN, four each to ANP and JUIF, three were INDs, two belonged to MQM, and one each to BNPA and NP.
Senate does not make the record of legislators’ attendance public; FAFEN observer conducts a headcount at the start and end of each sitting. Although found lacking during some of the sittings, quorum (1/4 of total membership, 26 members) was not pointed out on any occasion.
On average only nine Senators were present at the start and 22 at the end of a sitting compared to eight and 32 in the previous session. The average maximum number of Senators present in the session – 37 – was significantly lower than the 60 reported in the previous session.
The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire session remaining present for 13 hours and 41 minutes (95%) and 13 hours and 28 minutes (94%) respectively. Fifty percent (seven hours and 12 minutes) of the session was chaired by the Chairman and the rest by the Deputy Chairman (six hours and 29 minutes).
A parliamentary leader’s attendance is critical, as he provides guidance to his fellow party members and can influence a party’s stance on various issues. The parliamentary leader of JUIF was present in all six sittings, followed by ANP and NP (five sittings) and the PMLF party leader attended a single sitting. PML, BNPA and JUI parliamentary leaders did not attend the session.
The session witnessed five instances of protests consuming 10% (90 minutes) of the proceedings. A 10-minute walkout was staged jointly by PMLN and NP Senators to protest the oath taking ceremony of the re-elected interior minister. ANP and NP Senators walked out for five minutes to show resentment over unscheduled and prolonged electricity outages in the country.
Senators were also not happy over the absence of Ministers from the House. Senators of JUIF, PMLN and ANP – a government ally – showed their unhappiness by staging three walkouts for 75 minutes against the absence of ministers.
For complete report click here
