ISLAMABAD, January 31, 2020: The Senate transacted its entire agenda on Friday and debated the government strategy to avoid the spread of Coronavirus in Pakistan and the measures being taken for the stranded Pakistani students in China, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 16^th sitting of the 295^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at its scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the sitting for two hours and 13 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and 10 minutes.
• Sixteen lawmakers (15%) were present at the outset and 14 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, PTI, BNP-M, PML-N, PkMAP, JUI-F and PPPP attended the sitting.
• Two out of four minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• Chairman Standing Committee on Interior presented report of the Committee on the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented report of the Committee on the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2020. Five lawmakers also spoke on the report for 10 minutes.
• The House granted 30-day extension to Special Committee on Child Protection for presentation of its report on a point of public importance regarding the incident of child abuse in Mansehra.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up seven out of 35 starred questions while lawmakers asked 20 supplementary questions.
• Minister for Parliamentary Affairs moved a Motion under Rule 157 (2) to discuss the Annual Report on the State of the Economy that includes the review of the fourth quarter on the State of the Economy for the year 2018-19. The House, however, agreed to start debate on the subject from February 4, 2020 (Tuesday).
• Sixteen lawmakers, including the Leaders of the House and the Opposition, spoke on Points of Public Importance for an hour and four minutes. Most of the lawmakers urged the government to take comprehensive measures to avoid the spread of Coronavirus in Pakistan and take special measures for stranded Pakistani students in China.

Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on February 3, 2020 (Monday) at 1500 hours.

Transparency

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

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted