ISLAMABAD, March 5, 2012: The Punjab Assembly continued to witness low attendance of MPAs on Monday as at the start of seventh sitting of 35^thsession, 18 Members were present and only six were there when it was adjourned.

Starting one hour and 45 minutes behind schedule, the sitting lasted three hours and 21 minutes. The Quorum, visibly lacking, was not pointed out by any of the MPAs.

Out of 35 Questions listed for the Question Hour, only 13 were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Thirty-nine supplementary questions were asked.

The Chief Minister and 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 Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 21 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1645 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1500 hours. The House proceedings started one hour and 45 minutes late.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were absent.
• The parliamentary leader of the MMAP was present, while those of the PML, PMLF and PMLZ were absent.
• Eighteen Members (5% of the Membership – 369) were present at the start while only 6 (2%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two minority Members were present.
• The House took a 32-minute break for prayers.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Out of 35 Questions listed for the Question Hour, 13 were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Thirty-nine supplementary questions were asked.
•  A Calling Attention Notice about a robbery in Masoor bazaar was taken up by the House.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the agenda.
• A Resolution calling the federal government to take back the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products was adopted by the House.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Ten Points Of Order consumed 20 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 during the sitting.

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, was not pointed out by any of the MPAs.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization, a member organization of FAFEN