ISLAMABAD, December 15, 2017: The Senate on Friday debated commitments made by the Federal Government to the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are the key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 271^st session.

  Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for an hour and 50 minutes.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the sitting for 58 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 36 minutes.
• The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F, PkMAP, BNP-M, NP, PTI, PPPP and MQM  attended the sitting.
• As many as nine lawmakers (8% of the total membership- 104) were present at the outset and 17 (16%) at the end of sitting.
• One minority Senator attended the sitting.

Output

• Chairman, Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented reports on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017] (Insertion of new Article 95A) and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017] (Insertion of new Article 136A).
• On behalf of Chairman, Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, a member of the Committee presented report regarding names, designations and date of retirement of the pensioners of the Telephone Industries of Pakistan (TIP), Haripur.
• On behalf of Chairman, Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, a member of the Committee presented report pertaining to fertilizers and movement of urea in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Fourteen lawmakers debated an adjournment motion for  an hour and 26 minutes regarding the key commitments made by the Federal Government to the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition without taking the Parliament into confidence.
• The House passed two motions under sub-rule (1) of rule 194 to grant extension of 30 working days to Committees on Interior and Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business for presentation of reports regarding action being taken against the Turk citizens living in Pakistan and inappropriate reply by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Interior, in response to a CAN respectively.
• The House passed a motion under Rule 203 for constituting the Select Committee to consider the Prevention of Witchcraft Bill, 2017.
• An adjournment motion regarding the non-implementation of Climate Change Policy of 2012 was deferred.

Order and Institutionalization

•  A lawmaker spoke on a Point of Public Importance consuming  two minutes of the proceedings.

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