ISLAMABAD, February 10, 2012:  The Senate passed the Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Bill, 2012 during its last sitting of the 77^th session.

Witnessing low attendance, the sitting lasted an hour and 40 minutes. Only 11 Senators were present at the onset and 17 at the end of the sitting.

Eight out of 13 questions listed for the Question Hour were responded to by the relevant minister. A total of 17 supplementary questions were raised during the sitting.

The Leader of the House was present while the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 40 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1045 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started 45 minutes late.
• The Deputy Chairman presided over the sitting.
• The Leader of the House was present while the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of the PMLN, NP, JWP, JI and the ANP attended the sitting while the leaders of the PML, MQM, PMLF, BNPA and the PPPS were absent.
• Eleven Senators were present at the start of the sitting whereas 17 when it was adjourned. A maximum of 23 Senators (23%) were present during one point of the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Thirteen questions were listed for the Question Hour; eight were put up and responded to by the relevant minister.
• A total of 17 supplementary questions were raised during the sitting.
• A Calling Attention Notice about import of millions of automatic weapons in the country during the last many years was deferred.

Output

• The Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Bill, 2012 was unanimously passed by the House.

Order and Institutionalization

• Seven Points of Order consumed 25 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.

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 at various stages during the sitting, was not pointed out by any of the Senators.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN