Senate: POs Consume 72% of Proceedings’ Time

ISLAMABAD, March 10, 2015: The Senate completed 93% of the agenda while consuming 72% of the sitting time on points of order (POs) during 3rd sitting of the 112th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

The House unanimously passed two resolutions. In the first one, tributes were paid to the outgoing Senate Chairman while the other resolution expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of former Senator Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali.

Chairman, Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges presented reports on two privilege motions against the misbehaviour of Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and PIA officials at Rawal Lounge, Benazir International Airport, Islamabad.

Chairman, Standing Committee on Housing and Works presented report on a Starred Question asked by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq on October 30, 2014, regarding agreement between the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) and M/s Green Tree for development of housing scheme for Federal Government employees in Bara Kahu, Islamabad.

The House also witnessed the presentation of six periodic reports by various committees while a PML-N lawmaker presented a report of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for the Financial Year, 2013-14.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The Senate met for three hours and four minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1043 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Chairman presided over the entire sitting. The Deputy Chairman was also present.
  • Leader of the House attended the sitting for two hours and 12 minutes while the Opposition Leader was present for the entire sitting.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • Eighteen members (17%) were present at the start and 33 (32%) at the end of the sitting.
  • A maximum of 64 senators (62%) were present at one point of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, ANP, PkMAP, PML-F, JUI-F and PML attended the sitting.
  • Three minority members were present.
  • Two members applied for leave.

Output

  • The House unanimously passed two resolutions. In the first one, tributes were paid to the outgoing Senate Chairman while the other resolution expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of former Senator Mir Abdul Rehman Jamali.
  • Chairman, Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges presented reports on two privilege motions against the behavior of Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and PIA officials at Rawal Lounge, Benazir International Airport, Islamabad.
  • Chairman, Standing Committee on Housing and Works presented report on Starred Question No.34, asked by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq on October 30, 2014.
  •  Six periodic reports by various committees were presented while PML-N lawmakers presented report of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for the Financial Year, 2013-14.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers raised 39 points of order that consumed 132 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
  • The entire opposition, except MQM, two PPPP and one ANP senators, staged walkout for five minutes, demanding withdrawal of privileges from the former Chief Justice of Pakistan.

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way reflect the views of the European Union. This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.