ISLAMABAD, September 30, 2021: The Punjab Assembly passed three government bills on Thursday and deferred two resolutions due to ministerial absence, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the fifth sitting of 35th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and three minutes.
• The sitting started at 03:32 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
• The speaker presided over the sitting for 18 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by a member of panel of chairpersons.
• The deputy speaker was not present
• The leaders of the House (Chief Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 41 MPAs (11 percent) were present at the outset and 27 (seven percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• None of the parliamentary leader attended the proceedings.
• One out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• The House passed three government bills including the Lahore Ring Road Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Punjab Commission for Regularization of Irregular Housing Schemes Bill, 2021and the Punjab Commission for Regularization of Irregular Housing Schemes (Amendment), Bill 2021.
• Two supplementary resolutions were deferred due to absence of relevant ministers.

Representation and Responsiveness 

• The House took up 12 out 34 starred questions. In addition, lawmakers asked 21 supplementary questions.
• Minister for information responded to an adjournment motion regarding entertainment stuff on television channels. Minister for law responded to two other adjournment motions regarding cleanliness situation in Kasur and drug addiction among youth.
• Minister for law responded to six calling attention notices related to law and order situation in various areas of the province.

Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, October 1, 2021 at 09:00 am.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Assembly’s website.
• Information on Members’ attendance is available on Assembly’s website.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by SANGAT Development Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted