ISLAMABAD, December 19, 2011: The National Assembly met for two hours and 11 minutes during the third sitting of the ongoing 37^th session. The sitting witnessed low attendance of Members, with only 45 Legislators were present at the start, while 44 were present when the sitting was adjourned.

The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, the lack of it was not pointed out by any of the Members.

A total of 12 Points of Order were raised, which consumed 60% of sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

Two Bills – The National Commission for Human Rights Bill, 2011 and the Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2011 – were not taken up by the House.

The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 26 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 70 minutes. The parliamentary leaders of the PPPS and ANP attended the proceedings.

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 11 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1740 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The proceedings started late by 40 minutes.
• A Member of Panel of Chairpersons chaired the initial 60 minutes of the sitting, while the remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Speaker. The Speaker was not present.
• The Prime Minister was present for 26 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 70 minutes.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of the PPPS and ANP were the only ones present, while the leaders of the MQM, BNPA, MMAP, NPP, PML and PMLF were absent.
• The Chief Whips of PML, ANP, PMLN and PPPP were present, while those of the MQM, MMAP and PMLF were absent.
• A total of 45 (13%) Members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 44 (12%) Members at the end of the sitting.
• A total of ten Members applied for leave to be absent from the sitting.
• Three Minority Members were present during the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up both the Calling Attention Notices (CANs) on the Orders of the Day.
• Moved by five PMLN Members – two females and three males – the first CAN was about “recent increase in the prices of diesel, petrol and kerosene oil”, which was directed to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
• The other CAN was about the “non-writing-off agricultural loans of Earthquake affectees of Galyat by National Bank”. Sponsored by four PMLN Members – four males – it was directed to the Ministry of Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Planning and Development.
• A total of 21 questions were listed to be taken up during the Question Hour. However, only five questions were put up and responded by the relevant ministries.
• A total of 12 supplementary questions were raised in the House during the sitting.

Output

• Two Bills (The National Commission for Human Rights Bill, 2011 and the Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2011) were not taken up by the House.

Order and institutionalization

• A total of 12 Points of Order were raised, consuming 77 minutes (60% of sitting time) of the sitting. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting 

 Transparency

•  Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
•  Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
•  The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting. However, lack of quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN