ISLAMABAD, June 24, 2016: The Punjab Assembly approved forty one Demands for Grants during eighth sitting of its 22nd (Budget) session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation
- The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
- The sitting started at 0920 hours against the scheduled time of 0900 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was present.
- The Chief Minister attended the sitting for eight minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and three minutes.
- The Finance Minister attended the sitting for two hours and two minutes.
- Eight lawmakers (2%) were present at the outset and 154 (42%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- Not a single parliamentary leader attended the sitting.
- Three minority members were present.
Output
- The House approved 41 Demand for Grants of various government departments.
- The Finance Minister and a PML-Q female lawmaker discussed a Cut Motion for Health Department consuming ten minutes.
- Five lawmakers discussed a Cut Motion on Demand for Grants for Education Department consuming 36 minutes of proceeding.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred seven Adjournment Motions until next week.
Order and Institutionalization
- The entire opposition protested for one minutes against the unsatisfactory statement of the Education Minister during discussion on relevant Demand for Grants.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Information on members’ attendance is available on the Assembly’s website.
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 excepted.
