ISLAMABAD, March 05, 2015: The Punjab Assembly left its entire agenda unaddressed amid thin attendance of lawmakers on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Eleven legislators (3%) were present at the start of the sitting and 20 (5%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting. Among parliamentary leaders, only the PPPP leader was present.

The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Punjab Partition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill 2015 were not introduced despite being on the agenda.

Six other bills – namely the Punjab Security of Vulnerable Establishments Bill 2015, the Punjab Arms (Amendment) Bill 2015, the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2015, the Punjab Criminal Prosecution Service (Constitution, Functions and Powers)(Amendment) Bill 2015, the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Bill 2015 and the Punjab Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Bill 2015 – were also not considered.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for eight minutes.
• Eleven members (3%) were present at the start and 20 (5%) at the end of the sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the PPPP leader was present.
• No minority member attended the proceedings.
• No member applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The question hour was not held during the sitting.
• No calling attention notice was taken up.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to legislators, observers and others.

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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.