ISLAMABAD, October 7, 2015: Starting around three hours behind the scheduled time, the first sitting of 17^th session of the Punjab Assembly adopted three resolutions and passed one bill on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The House continued to witness low attendance of lawmakers as 70 (19%) of the members were present at the outset and 32 (9%) at the time of adjournment of the sitting.

The House passed the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 and also witnessed introduction of the Punjab Flood Plain Regulation Bill 2015.

Two other bills including the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Punjab Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2015 were not considered by the House.

The House adopted three resolutions to extend the validity period of three ordinances for 90 days including the Punjab Food Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, the Punjab Special Protection Unit Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2015. Two other resolutions seeking extension in the Infrastructure Development Authority of the Punjab Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Pure Food (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 were not taken up by the House.

Minister for Law presented the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation)(Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Ali Institute of Education Lahore (Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1701 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• 70 members (19%) were present at the start and 32 (9%) 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 50 minutes.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• Five minority members attended the proceedings.

Output

• The House passed the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 and also witnessed introduction of the Punjab Flood Plain Regulation Bill 2015.
• The House adopted three resolutions to extend the validity period of three ordinances for 90 days including the Punjab Food Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, the Punjab Special Protection Unit Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.
• Minister for Law presented the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation)(Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Ali Institute of Education Lahore (Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Question Hour was deferred due to the absence of Parliamentary Secretary of the relevant department.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised seven points of order that consumed five minutes of the sitting.
• PTI legislators walked out of the House for 11 minutes over alleged harassment to its supporters by police for upcoming bye-elections in NA-122.
• PPPP female lawmaker pointed the quorum at 1728 but it was found complete upon counting.

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.