ISLAMABAD, December 30, 2014: The Punjab Assembly adopted four resolutions during its 14^th sitting of the 11th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

The resolutions demand ramps for disabled persons at public places; registration of mobile phone repairing services and mandating phone sellers to provide an original invoice along with a copy of CNIC to customers; giving high school status to a middle school in Ganj Shakar Special Education Center in Okara and audit of NGOs working for women’s welfare.

Twenty-nine (8%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 47 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting. The quorum was visibly lacking during the entire sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent. Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI and PPPP leaders attended the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1107 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and seven minutes.
• Twenty-nine members (8%) were present at the outset and 47 (13%) at the sitting’s adjournment. A maximum of 68 members (18%) were seen at one point of the sitting.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• The parliamentary leader of JI and PPPP attended the sitting.
• One minority member was present.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The House unanimously adopted a resolution tabled by a female PML-N lawmaker to set up ramps for disabled persons at public places.
• Another resolution tabled by a PML-N lawmaker regarding registration of mobile phone repairing services and mandating phone sellers to provide an original invoice along with a copy of CNIC to customers was also unanimously adopted.
• A third resolution sponsored by another female PML-N lawmaker demanding high school status for a middle school in Ganj Shakar Special Education Center, Okara was unanimously adopted by the House.
• The House adopted another resolution tabled by a female PML-N lawmaker demanding audit of NGOs working in Punjab for women’s welfare.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Thirteen out of 28 starred questions appearing on the agenda were answered by the relevant departments, while 26 supplementary questions were raised by the MPAs.

Order and Institutionalization

• Nine points of order consumed 10 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• JI parliamentary leader staged a two-minute protest against a tax waiver for minorities.

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