Punjab Assembly Session Prorogued After Deferring Most of Agenda

ISLAMABAD, May 7, 2018: The 35th session of the Punjab Assembly was prorogued sine die after deferring most of the agenda during its lat sitting on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

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

Members’ Participation

  • The Punjab Assembly met for 40 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1523 hours against the scheduled time 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
  • The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 20 MPAs (5%) were present at outset and 45 (12%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • None of the parliamentary leader attended the sitting.
  • As many as four minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

  • Provincial Minister for Disaster Management Department presented the Annual Reports of Infrastructure Development Authority of the Punjab for the year 2016 and Punjab Pension Fund for the year 2017.
  • A PML-N lawmaker presented a report of Public Accounts Committee.
  • The House granted extension to Standing Committees on Local Government and Community Development and Education till May 31, 2018 for presentation of their reports.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • As many as one out of six Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings while five Questions were deferred. The lawmakers also asked three supplementary questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers raised three Points of Order consuming five minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • 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 PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are regretted.