ISLAMABAD, August 25, 2017: The Senate referred two government bills to the relevant standing committees on the opposition’s demand, including the Elections Bill 2017, observes the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings of fifth sitting of 266^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for two hours and 42 minutes.
• The sitting started at its scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Prime Minister, the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, BNP-M, JI and PML-F attended the sitting.
• Twelve members (11% of the total membership) were present at the outset and 17 (16%) at the time of in-camera briefing by the Prime Minister.
• One minority Senator attended the sitting.

Output

• The House passed two government bills namely the National School of Public Policy (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill, 2017.
• The House referred the Public Interest Disclosures Bill, 2017 and the Elections Bill, 2017 to the concerned standing committees on opposition’s demand.
• The House did not take up the motion for amendments in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012 due to absence of the movers.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Chair referred an Adjournment Motion regarding third tier excise duty (FED) on tobacco products to the Standing Committee on Finance.
• Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs made a statement regarding the revelations made by Raymond Davis in his book the Contractor. The issue was raised through an Adjournment Motion and a Calling Attention Notice both of which were clubbed together.
• As many as 15 out of 39 Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked 21 supplementary questions as well.
• The House also took up another Calling Attention Notice regarding closure of Khokhrapar Border with India.
• Sixteen lawmakers paid tribute to poet Ahmad Faraz on his death anniversary. They highlighted the various aspects of his poetry and spoke for 35 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization 

• The lawmakers spoke on 7 Points of Public Importance consuming 13 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.

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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