ISLAMABAD, April 12, 2016: The Punjab Assembly adopted four private members’ resolutions on Tuesday during tenth sitting of its 20^th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and five minutes.
• The sitting started at 1059 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 53 minutes.
• Nine MPAs (2%) were present at outset and 33 (9%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• Two minority members were present.

Output

• The House adopted four private members’ resolutions urging the government to announce relief package for farmers, reconstitute Pakistan Cricket Board on merit, encourage research regarding promotion of soft image of Pakistan and take action against unlicensed medical stores in the province.
• Two resolutions were disposed of and one was deferred due to absence of the movers.
• The House granted one month’s extension each to the Standing Committees on Health for presentation of its reports on four legislative bills and the Standing Committee on Education for presentation of its reports on two adjournment motions. The Public Accounts Committee-I was also granted one year’s extension for presentation of its report on Special Audit Report for 2008-2009.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The government orally replied to 10 out of 30 starred questions appearing on the agenda while five questions were deferred. The lawmakers also asked 35 supplementary questions.
• A PML-N lawmaker raised an issue of public importance during zero hour regarding harassment of foreign exchange companies by police officials. The relevant parliamentary secretary and Provincial Law Minister made statements on the issue.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on six points of order consuming eight minutes of the proceeding.
• Entire Opposition staged protest on floor of the House for 15 minutes against rejection of an out-of-turn adjournment motion regarding Panama Leaks.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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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.