ISLAMABAD, December 15, 2021: The Punjab Assembly passed three government bills and referred two legislative proposals to standing committees on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) it its daily factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the first sitting of the 38th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for an hour and eight minutes.
• The sitting started at 03:42 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.
• The speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The deputy speaker was also present.
• The leaders of the house (chief minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 38 MPAs (10%) were present at the outset and 50 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• None of the parliamentary leader attended the sitting.
• As many as two out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• The House passed three government bills including the South Punjab Institute of Science and Technology, Dera Ghazi Khan Bill, 2020; the Thal University Bhakkar Bill, 2021 and the Punjab Prevention of Speculation in Essential Commodities Bill, 2021.
• Minister for law laid the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2021and introduced the Punjab Irrigation, Drainage and Rivers Bill, 2021. Both legislative proposals were referred to the relevant standing committees.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up six out of 39 starred questions while the lawmakers asked 13 supplementary questions.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Seven lawmakers spoke on points of order for 19 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 01:00 pm.

Transparency

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

The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by SANGAT Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted