ISLAMABAD, March 8, 2021: The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab unanimously adopted a resolution paying tribute to women on the eve of International Women’s Day and deferred question hour due to the absence of relevant minister, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the fifth sitting of the 30^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for 29 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1520 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was absent.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 38 MPAs (10%) were present at the outset and 17 (5%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• None of the Parliamentary Leaders attended the sitting.
• Only one out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

• Sponsored by a PTI lawmaker, the House adopted a supplementary resolution paying tribute to the Women on International Women’s Day. It also condemned atrocities with the Kashmiri and Palestinian women and expressed solidarity with them.
• Minister for Law presented nine statutory reports in the House.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House did not observe question hour due to the absence of Minister for Mines and Minerals Department.
•  The House took up two Call Attention Notices (CANs) regarding law and order situation in Faisalabad and Kasur. These CANs were raised by PTI and PML-N lawmakers, respectively.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five lawmakers spoke on points of order for 12 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on March 9, 2021 (Tuesday) at 1400 hours.

Transparency

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