ISLAMABAD, February 29: Only nine MPAs were present when the fourth sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 35th session opened proceedings on Wednesday.
Starting one hour and 50 minutes behind schedule, at the end of the sitting only 11 MPAs were present in the House. The Quorum, visibly lacking, was not pointed out by any of the legislators.
Out of 25 questions listed for the Question Hour, 12 were put up and responded to by the relevant ministries. MPAs also asked 32 supplementary questions.
Five Adjournment Motions – on lack of doctors in the province and making 5-7 years service mandatory for doctors; sale of fake stamp papers; against setting up Food Street; illegal allotment of public property in Rawalpindi; and difficulty in registering births and deaths at union council level after a notification by the health department – were moved in the House.
The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting as the Leader of the Opposition was present in the House for 25 minutes. The Speaker chaired the entire session.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1150 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started one hour and 50 minutes late.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Chief Minister was not present while the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 25 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of the PML, MMAP, PMLF and PMLZ attended the sitting while those of PPPP and PMLN were absent.
- Nine Members (2% of the Membership – 369) were present at the start while 11 (3%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
- Three minority Members were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Out of 25 questions listed for the Question Hour, 12 were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. MPAs also asked 32 supplementary questions.
Output
- No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.
- Five Adjournment Motions – on lack of doctors in the province and making 5-7 years service mandatory for doctors; sale of fake stamp papers; against setting up Food Street; illegal allotment of public property in Rawalpindi; and difficulty in registering births and deaths at union council level after a notification by the health department – were moved in the House.
Order and Institutionalization
- Fourteen Points of Order were raised during the sitting which consumed 30 minutes.
- There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
- The Quorum, visibly lacking, was not pointed out by any of the MPAs.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization, a member organization of FAFEN
