ISLAMABAD, May 15, 2015: The Senate continued to witness low attendance on Friday as two bills and as many ordinances were presented during the sitting, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started as per schedule with 13 (12%) senators present at the start and 30 (29%) at the time of adjournment.

The State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (First Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Second Amendment) Bill 2015, which were both referred to the relevant standing committee.

The Law Minister presented the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Cantonments (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 during the sitting.

The House took up two calling attention notices (CANs) on the privatization of Heavy Electrical Complex and the Special Committee’s “discriminatory” decision against officers of Pakistan Administrative Service hailing from Sindh and Balochistan.

The Convener of the Special Committee on Privileges presented a report on the absence of officials belonging to the Capital Development Authority and Establishment Division during the Senate’s question hour on May 6, 2015.

The Chair administered the oath of a newly-elected PTI member during the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 19 minutes.
• The sitting started at its scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was also present.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was not present.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• 13 senators (12%) were present at the start and 30 (29%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 48 senators (46%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, PTI, PML, PML-F, BNP-A and NP were absent.
• Three minority members were present.
• Five members applied for leave.

Output

• The State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (First Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.
• The Law Minister presented the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Cantonments (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.
• The Convener of the Special Committee on Privileges presented a report on the absence of officials belonging to the Capital Development Authority and Establishment Division during the Senate’s question hour on May 6, 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up 11 out of 23 questions appearing on the agenda, while the senators raised another 38 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House also took up two CANs on the privatization of Heavy Electrical Complex and the Special Committee’s “discriminatory” decision against officers of Pakistan Administrative Service who belong to Sindh and Balochistan.
• The House passed a motion to suspend the question hour during the remaining sittings of the ongoing session.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised seven points of order that consumed 15 minutes of the sitting.
• The sitting witnessed a five-minute walkout by the entire opposition against the government’s response to the CAN on HEC’s privatization.
• ANP senators also staged a two-minute walkout against the “unsatisfactory” response to a question.

Transparency

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

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way reflect the views of the European Union. This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.