ISLAMABAD, May 12, 2016: The Punjab Assembly could not hold discussion on a report due to lack of quorum on Thursday during fifth sitting of 21^st session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 56 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1121 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for 65 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceeding.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 68 minutes.
• 20 MPAs (5%) were present at outset and 50 (13%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP and JI attended the sitting.
• Five minority members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The government responded to six out of seven starred questions on floor of the House while one question was deferred. The lawmakers also asked 15 supplementary questions.
• The House deferred three Adjournment Motions on request of the government.
• The government answered two Calling Attention Notices while one was deferred and two were disposed of due to absence of the mover.
• The House did not hold discussion on Annual Report of the Parks and Horticulture Authority Lahore for the year 2013-2014.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on nine points of order consuming 13 minutes of the proceeding.
• A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1312 hours after which the Chair ordered to ring the bells for five minutes. The quorum was still incomplete on recounting so the sitting was adjourned.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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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.