ISLAMABAD, November 17, 2021: The Punjab Assembly deferred question hour on Wednesday and addressed the rest of agenda appearing on `Order of the Day’, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) it its daily factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

• The House met for 31 minutes.
• The sitting started at 02:29 pm against the scheduled time of 11:30 am.
• The speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The deputy speaker was not present.
• The leaders of the house (chief minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 33 MPAs (9%) were present at the outset and 110 (30%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leader of PPPP attended the sitting.
• As many as four out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Minister for law presented the Punjab Commission on Irregular Housing Schemes (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
• Four reports of Standing Committee on Higher Education on as many legislative proposals and a report of special committee on a bill were presented in the House.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up one starred question while the Chair deferred the remaining 36 questions due to absence of relevant secretary belonging to agriculture department.
• The Chair admitted two adjournment motions and referred them to special committees. These motions were regarding violation of building codes in Multan and renovation of Rawalpindi Gymkhana.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Two lawmakers spoke on points of order three minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on November 19, 2021 (Friday) at 09:00 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