Senate Sitting Adjourned due to Lack of Quorum

ISLAMABAD, September 28, 2018: The Senate continued debate on the Supplementary Budget and was adjourned due to lack of quorum on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during the 6th sitting of 282nd session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Senate met for two hours.
  • The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Deputy Chairman was also present.
  • The Leader of the House was present for an hour and 23 minutes.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 47 minutes.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • Parliamentary leaders of PTI and PML-N attended the sitting.
  • Fifteen members (14% of the total membership – 104) were present at the outset and 18 (17%) at the end of sitting.
  • One minority lawmaker attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • As many as four lawmakers took part in the debate on the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill, 2018 consuming 37 minutes of the proceedings.
  • Minister for National History and Literary Heritage responded to a Calling Attention Notice about delay in establishment of Faiz Ahmed Faiz Library as extension of the National Library of Pakistan.
  • The House passed three motions under Rule 194 (1) granting extension to three Standing Committees for presentation of their reports.

Order and Institutionalization 

  • The entire Opposition walked out of the House at 1213 hours against the absence of Minister for Finance and representatives of Ministry of Finance during debate on the Supplementary Budget. They did not return to the House till adjournment of the sitting.
  • A PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1225 hours which led to the adjournment of sitting at 1230 hours.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on October 1, 2018 (Monday) at 1500 hours.

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