ISLAMABAD, March 1, 2012: The Punjab Assembly continued to witness low attendance of MPAs on Thursday as at the start of fifth sitting of 35^th session, 17 Members were present and only three were there when it was adjourned.

Starting one hour and 20 minutes behind schedule, the sitting lasted three hours and 45 minutes. After a PPPP Member pointed out Quorum, bells were rung for five minutes. As one-fourth of Members made it to the House, the proceeding continued.  A maximum of 116 MPAs were observed present at one point of the sitting.

Out of 29 questions listed for the Question Hour, six were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Nineteen supplementary questions were asked.

The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 40 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was absent.

Three Government Bills – the Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Bill 2012; the Punjab Animals Slaughter Control (Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Punjab Court of Wards (Amendment) Bill 2012 – were introduced in the House.

Two PPPP female MPAs boycotted the proceedings after their points of order were disallowed.

Though an Adjournment Motion was on the agenda, the prime mover Member was not in the House to speak on it.

Twenty-six Points Of Order consumed 70 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 45 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1120 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started one hour and 20 minutes late.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for three hour and 5 minutes. The rest of the sitting was chaired by Members of the Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 40 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was absent.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• Seventeen Members (4.6% of the Membership – 369) were present at the start while only 3 (1%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Five minority Members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Out of 29 Questions listed for the Question Hour, six were put up and responded by the relevant ministries. Nineteen supplementary questions were asked.
• An Adjournment Motion was on the agenda, but the prime mover Member was not in the House to speak on it.

Output

• Three Government Bills – the Punjab Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Bill 2012; the Punjab Animals Slaughter Control (Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Punjab Court of Wards (Amendment) Bill 2012 – were introduced by the Law Minister.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Twenty-six Points Of Order consumed 70 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling
• Two PPPP female members boycotted the proceedings for two hours and five minutes after they were not allowed to speak on Points of Order.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• After a PPPP Member pointed out Quorum, bells were rung for five. As one-fourth of Members made it to the House, the proceeding continued.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization, a member organization of FAFEN