ISLAMABAD, February 1, 2018: The Punjab Assembly was adjourned on Thursday amid protest by opposition parties on the issue of increase in the prices of petroleum products, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fourth sitting of the 34^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 33 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1110 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for an hour and 28 minutes.
• As many as 10 MPAs (3%) were present at outset and 43 (12%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• None of the parliamentary leaders were present during the proceedings.
• As many as three minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• The House did not take up the statutory reports appearing on Orders of the Day.
• The House granted two-month extension to the Public Accounts Committees I and II, the Standing Committees on Human Rights & Minority Affairs, Environment Protection, Cooperatives, Livestock & Dairy Development and Fisheries & Forestry for presentation of their reports.

Representation and Responsiveness

• As many as 12 out of 19 Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings while four Starred Questions were deferred and three were disposed of due to absence of the movers. The lawmakers also asked 33 supplementary questions.
• The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs responded to a Calling Attention Notice moved by a PTI lawmaker.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised 18 Points of Order consuming 22 minutes of the proceedings.
• The opposition lawmakers staged a two-minute protest against a decision of the Chair to disallow a resolution regarding increase in the petroleum prices.
• The House was adjourned to meet again at 0900 hours on Friday.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.

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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted.