ISLAMABAD, July 9, 2012: The first sitting of Senate’s 83rd session witnessed a walkout by the opposition (JUIF, PMLN and NP) and coalition partners (PML and ANP) over the water issue in Gwader. The walkout lasted 20 minutes.
Beginning 43 minutes late, the sitting lasted two hours and 33 minutes. A Private Member’s Bill – the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2011 – was passed by the House.
Members raised nine Points of Order which consumed 45 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of them attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition remained absent.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for two hours and 33 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1813 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1730 hours. The House proceedings started late by 43 minutes.
- The Chairman chaired the sitting. The Deputy Chairman was also present.
- The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was absent.
- The parliamentary leaders of the PML, NP, JUIF, BNPA and ANP attended the sitting.
- Six Senators (6% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 42 (42%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Question Hour was not held as Monday is a Private Members’ Day.
Output
- Three Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2011 was passed while the remaining two were sent to the respective Standing Committee.
- The House unanimously passed a Resolution offering condolences for the late MNA, Fauzia Wahab.
Order and Institutionalization
- Nine Points of Order consumed 45 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- The JUIF, PMLN, ANP and PML Senators staged a protest against the water issue in Gwader. The protest lasted 20 minutes.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ 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
