ISLAMABAD, December 13, 2012: Starting two hours and 50 minutes behind schedule, the first sitting of the 43^rd session witnessed low attendance of legislators as most of the agenda was left unaddressed.

Forty-seven members were present at the outset while there were 21 at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 107 members were present at one point of the sitting.

The House also did not take up three bills and a motion which appeared on the orders of the day. A Calling Attention Notice about death of a citizen in a police encounter in Lahore was also not taken up.

The Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Deputy Speaker did not attend the sitting.

MMPA legislators walked out when they were not allowed to present a resolution in the favor of Kalabagh Dam.

 

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1750 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1500 hours. The proceedings started two hours and 50 minutes late.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML and MMAP attended the sitting.
• Forty-seven Members were present at the outset while there were 21 at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 107 Members were present at one point of the sitting.
• Four Minority Members attended the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A Calling Attention Notice about the death of citizen in police encounter in Lahore was taken up by the House.
• Ten out of 26 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, 30 supplementary questions were asked. 

Output

• Three Standing Committee reports were presented in the House.
• Three bills – the Punjab Boilers and Pressure Vessels (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Punjab Public Service Commission (Second Amendment) Bill 2012 and the Punjab government Servants Housing Foundation (Second Amendment) Bill 2012 were not taken up by the House.
• Two reports on the Orders of the Day – the financial statement of the government of the Punjab for the year 2006-07 and the financial statement of the government of the Punjab for the year 2007-2008 – were not presented.

Order and institutionalization

• A total of 20 Points of Order consumed 18 minutes of the sitting time.
• Members of MMAP walked out over not allowing to present resolution in the favor of Kalabagh Dam.

 Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

 

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by Pattan, a Member organization of FAFEN.