Points of Order Consume Major Part of Punjab Assembly Proceedings

ISLAMABAD, January 25, 2021: The Punjab Assembly consumed major part of the proceedings on points of order and did not observe question hour on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during first sitting of the 28th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for two hours and 15 minutes while the sitting remained suspended for an hour and one minute due to prayer break.
  • The sitting started at 1647 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the proceedings for 57 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairperson.
  • The Deputy Speaker was not present.
  • The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 47 MPAs (13%) were present at the outset and 38 (10%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • Only parliamentary leader of PPPP was present.
  • As many as three out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

  • The Minister for Law laid two Ordinances including the Punjab Panah Gah Authority Ordinance 2021 and the King Edward Medical University, Lahore (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House neither observed question hour nor took up two Call Attention Notices appearing on the agenda.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • Eleven lawmakers spoke on points of order for 48 minutes (65 percent of the proceedings’ time).
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on January 26, 2021 (Tuesday) at 1400 hours.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
  • Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.

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