ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2013: The Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly opened the debate on budget in the second sitting of its second session on Thursday.

Overall 30 members – 20 PMLN, seven PTI, two PML and a single member of PMLZ – expressed views on the budget.

The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting which lasted four hours and 20 minutes. The provincial Minister for Finance attended the proceedings. A total of 96 members were present at the outset while 36 were there at the adjournment of the proceedings. A maximum of 147 members were present at one point of sitting.

Lawmakers spoke on ten points of order consuming eight minutes of the sitting’s time.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for four hours and 20 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1100 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for two hours and 15 minutes while the remaining time was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• A total of 96 members were present at the outset while 36 were there at the adjournment of the proceedings. A maximum of 147 members were present at one point of sitting.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 29 minutes.
• The Minister for Finance attended the sitting for three hours.
• Four minority members were present.
• None of the members applied for leave.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• The debate on budget lasted three hours and 39 minutes. The debate was dominated by 20 PMLN members who spoke for an hour and 57 minutes, followed by seven PTI members (an hour and 18 minutes), two PML MPAs (14 minutes) and a single PMLZ member spoke for 10 minutes. 
  

Order and Institutionalization

• Ten points of order consumed eight minutes of the session.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.
• The lack of quorum was pointed out by a PTI MPA. The Speaker ordered for the assembly bells to be rung for five minutes and the proceedings resumed afterwards as the quorum was completed.
  

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.
• Copies of the budget speech were available to the legislators.

 

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN, a member organization of FAFEN