ISLAMABAD, May 25, 2016: The Punjab Assembly took up its entire agenda on Wednesday during 14^th sitting of 21^st session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 31 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1100 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 27 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours.
• 16 MPAs (4%) were present at outset and 13 (3%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leader of JI attended the sitting.
• Seven minority members were present.

Output

• The Standing Committee on Health presented its reports on Bill No. 41/2015 and Bill No. 6/2016.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The government responded to six out of 14 starred questions appearing on the agenda while six others were deferred and two were disposed of due to absence of the relevant lawmakers. The lawmakers also asked 13 supplementary questions.
• The House referred an Adjournment Motion (AM) regarding procurement of wheat to the relevant committee while seven other AMs were deferred for a later sitting.
• Eight lawmakers discussed the Annual Reports of Punjab Pension Fund for years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The discussion consumed 36 minutes of the proceeding.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on 16 points of order consuming 44 minutes of the proceeding.
• Two PTI lawmakers pointed out quorum thrice during the proceeding at 1240 hours, 1330 hours and 1428 hours. The quorum was completed on first two occasions after ringing the bells for five minutes while the sitting was adjourned due to the lack of quorum pointed out for third time.
• The Treasury and Opposition lawmakers protested against each other on the issue of Panama Leaks for six minutes.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted.