ISLAMABAD, March 02, 2014: Starting 91 minutes behind the schedule, the 11^th sitting of the ongoing 12^th Punjab Assembly session debated grievances of sugarcane growers and issues pertaining to the agriculture sector, says Free and Fair Election Network in its daily factsheet.

Twenty-six legislators (7%) were present at the start of the sitting while 12 (3%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.

Twenty-one PML-N lawmakers took part in the debate while the Ministers for Food and Agriculture winded it up that continued for three hours and 12 minutes.

The Minister for Environment introduced the Punjab Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Bill 2015.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for four hours and 43 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1531 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• Twenty-six legislators (7%) were present at the start while 12 (3%) at the end of the sitting.
• The sitting was chaired by Deputy Speaker for an hour and 51 minutes while the rest of proceedings was presided over by a member of panel of chairpersons.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• Four out of eight minority members were present.
• No member applied for leave.

Output

• The Minister for Environment introduced the Punjab Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Bill 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Ten out of 30 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant department. In addition, the legislators raised 26 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• Two CANs regarding killing of a child and security guards in Rahim Yar Khan and Gujranwala during various dacoity attempts were taken up by the House.
• The House took up two adjournment motions (AMs). The first AM was regarding ETO Office Lahore, dispatching original documents of vehicles at irrelevant addresses while the other was about lack of hospitals’ waste management system.
• A Question of Privilege raised by a PML-N lawmaker against remarks of former MNA and MPA against the female lawmakers was taken up and referred to the relevant standing committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• No point of order was raised 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 the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.