ISLAMABAD, February 07, 2012:  Witnessing low attendance, the 16^th sitting of the ongoing Senate session lasted two hour and 35 minutes on Tuesday. Only 11 Senators were present at the onset and 15 at the end of the sitting.

Out of the 12 questions listed for the Question Hour, 11 were put up and responded by the relevant ministers. 

The Special Economic Zones Bill, 2011 was taken up and sent to the respective Standing Committee while the Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Bill, 2012 was deferred.

Ten Senators spoke on the Adjournment Motion regarding increase in the prices of petroleum products for an hour.

The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1635 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The House proceedings started 35 minutes late.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of PMLN, MQM, PMLF, PKMAP, JI and the ANP attended the sitting while the leaders of the PML, ANP, NP, JWP and the PPPS were absent.
• Eleven Senators were present at the start of the sitting whereas 18 when it was adjourned. A maximum of 26 Senators (26%) were present during one point of the sitting.
• The House took a 27-minute break for prayers.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Out of the 12 questions listed for the Question Hour, 11 were put up and responded by the relevant ministers.
• A total of 15 supplementary questions were raised during the sitting.
• The Upper House debated the Adjournment Motion about increase in the prices of petroleum products for an hour. Ten Senators spoke on the Motion.

Output

• The Special Economic Zones Bill, 2011 was taken up and sent to respective Standing Committee while the Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Bill, 2012 was deferred.

Order and Institutionalization

• No Point of Order was raised during the sitting.
• 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