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ISLAMABAD, May 15, 2018: The Punjab Assembly was adjourned on Tuesday without transacting any agenda except one Starred Question amidst lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during second sitting of the 36th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Punjab Assembly met for an hour; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 30 minutes due to absence of government secretary.
- The sitting started at 1135 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Chief Minister and the Finance Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 14 minutes.
- As many as 30 MPAs (8%) were present at outset and 32 (9%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
- As many as three minority lawmakers also attended the sitting.
Output
- Standing Committees on Labour & Human Resource, Services & General Administration and Industries, Commerce & Investment presented their reports in the House.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Only one out of 17 Starred Questions was taken up for answer during the proceedings while six questions were disposed of due to absence of the movers. The lawmakers also asked three supplementary questions. The Question Hour proceedings remained suspended for half an hour due to absence of the concerned government secretary.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker raised a Point of Order consuming three minutes of the proceedings.
- Entire opposition lawmakers staged a protest for five minutes against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s remarks regarding the statement of National Security Committee.
- A PTI lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1229 hours that led to the adjournment of the proceedings five minutes later.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on May 16, 2018 at 1000 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
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.
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