ISLAMABAD, October 8, 2015: Marked by low attendance of lawmakers, second sitting of the Punjab Assembly left the entire agenda unaddressed as the 17^th session was prorogued on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The House continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers as 23 (6%) of the members were present at the outset and 47 (13%) at the time of adjournment of the sitting.

The House did not take up any of the four resolutions seeking extension in time period of four Ordinances. Three bills including the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill 2015, the Punjab Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the University of Okara Bill 2015 were not considered by the House.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 32 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1130 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• 23 members (6%) were present at the start and 47 (13%) at the end of the sitting.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for 61 minutes.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• Five minority members attended the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Nine out of 19 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant department. In addition, the legislators raised 22 supplementary questions during the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised eight points of order that consumed ten minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was also available to the observers and the public.

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This 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.