ISLAMABAD, November 19, 2021: The Punjab Assembly deferred question hour on Friday due to absence of relevant minister and parliamentary secretary, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) it its daily factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the second sitting of the 37th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for 52 minutes.
• The sitting started at 11:48 am against the scheduled time of 09:00 am.
• A member of panel of chairpersons presided over the entire sitting in the absence of speaker and deputy speaker.
• The leaders of the house (chief minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 50 MPAs (13%) were present at the outset and 39 (11%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of all political parties were absent.
• As many as five out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Minister for law presented the performance audit reports on construction of bridge over river Ravi for metro bus system, Lahore for the audit year 2017-18 and on the accounts of 190 union councils of Punjab (North), for the audit year 2018-19. He also presented a report of standing committee on higher education on a legislative proposal.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House did not observe question hour due to the absence of relevant minister and parliamentary secretary. The questions were related to industries, commerce and investment department.
• An adjournment motion regarding non-implementation on job quota announced for developing districts of Punjab was deferred.
• Minister for law responded to a zero hour notice regarding plying of rickshaws in cities without number plates and registration.
• The Chair deferred elven zero hour notices due to absence of relevant ministers and two others amid absence of movers.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Eight lawmakers spoke on points of order 16 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on November 22, 2021 (Monday) at 11:30 am.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
• 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 SANGAT Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted