ISLAMABAD, December 16, 2014: Starting two hours and 21 minutes behind schedule, the seventh sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 11th session lasted 10 minutes and was adjourned for two days to mourn the attack on a school in Peshawar, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

The House witnessed low attendance with 40 members (11%) present at the outset and 125 (34%) at the adjournment. The Deputy Speaker adjourned the sitting for two days to mourn the death of schoolchildren in Peshawar after consenting with lawmakers from treasury and opposition benches.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for only ten minutes.
• The sitting started at 1721 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of two hours and 21 minutes.
• Forty members (11%) were present at the outset while a maximum 125 members (34%) were present at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker adjourned the sitting for two days to mourn the death of schoolchildren in Peshawar after consenting with lawmakers from treasury and opposition benches.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI and PPPP attended the sitting.
• Three minority members were present.
• None of the member applied for leave.

Order and Institutionalization

• No point of order was raised.
• No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed during the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was unavailable to the observers and public.

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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN