ISLAMABAD, July 29, 2016: The Senate unanimously passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2016 during 10^th (last) sitting of its 250^th session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

The sitting remained suspended for an hour and 59 minutes due to negotiations between government and opposition parties on the aforementioned bill.

Following are some key observations of the House business:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for five hours and 42 minutes.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The House had a prayer break for 38 minutes while the sitting also remained suspended for an hour 59 minutes.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the sitting for five hours and 21 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and 44 minutes.
• Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, MQM, BNP-M, JUI-F, PML-N, PPPP, PTI and PML attended the sitting.
• Eleven members (10% of the total membership -104) were present at the outset and 40 members (39%) at the end of the sitting.
• Two minority Senators attended the sitting.

Output

• Introduced by State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, the House unanimously passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2016.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat presented reports regarding flaws in the design of runways of new Islamabad airport; mismanagement in the affairs of Polyclinic and PIMS; and miserable condition of the animals especially the elephant in Marghazar/Margalla Zoo Islamabad.
• On behalf of Chairperson Functional Committee on Human Rights, BNP-M lawmaker presented reports about the non-settlement of longstanding issue of peasants of Okara farms and various incidents of burning alive of women folk besides suggesting mechanism to curb this menace. Later, the House considered and adopted these reports.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• A motion Under Rule 60 was dropped due to absence of its movers. This motion was regarding the names of the persons and companies who have got their debts written off during the last 30 years indicating also the amount written off in each case.
• The House passed a motion to extend the presentation period of report on a starred question regarding the sale of petroleum products by PSO to some selected consumers.
• The House took all 17 starred questions appearing on the agenda. In addition, the lawmakers also asked 25 supplementary questions.
• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) on the agenda which was about the decision of Higher Education Commission (HEC) making it obligatory for students to appear in NTS test before taking admission in Master degrees. Another notice regarding delay in renewal of passports and CNICs by the Embassy of Pakistan in Qatar was deferred on request of the mover.
• The Chair admitted an adjournment motion for discussion regarding the illegal border crossing by Pakistani Citizens with assistance of human traffickers leading to severe consequences.

Order and Institutionalization 

• Three Points of Public Importance consumed three minutes of the proceeding.

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 proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted