Punjab PA Adopts Four Private Members’ Resolutions

ISLAMABAD, December 04, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Punjab adopted four private members’ resolutions and discussed an adjournment motion related to health sector on Tuesday,  observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during second sitting of the fifth session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1208 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Speaker was absent.
  • The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition were absent.
  • As many as 95 MPAs (26%) were present at the outset while 102 (27%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leader Rah-e-Haq party attended the proceedings.
  • Three out of eight minority lawmakers also attended the sitting.

Output:

  • The House adopted four private members’ resolutions demanding the government to take steps for smog prevention, set up toilets in rural areas of the province and to congratulate incumbent government for allocating Rs. 21 billion in current fiscal year for clean drinking water facilitates and express gratitude to Speaker for arranging a ceremony to commemorate Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) in Assembly Secretariat.
  • The House deferred another private member’s resolution to curb begging practices through creating employment opportunities for those involved in it.

 Representation and Responsiveness

  • Sponsored by a PML-N lawmaker, the House took up an Adjournment Motion (AM) regarding posting of Victoria Hospital’s doctors to a hospital in D.G. Khan.
  • Two others AMs were deferred due to non-reply from the concerned ministries on them.
  • As many as seven starred questions related to the Ministries of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock & Dairy Development were taken up during the proceedings. In addition, the lawmakers asked 22 supplementary questions.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • The proceedings remained suspended for 30 minutes due to lack of quorum pointed out by a PML-N lawmaker.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on December 05, 2018 (Wednesday) at 1100 hours.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
  • Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.

The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted.