ISLAMABAD, May 19, 2016: The Punjab Assembly could not continue discussion on a report due to lack of quorum on Thursday during tenth 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 two hours and 41 minutes.
• The proceeding was suspended for 43 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1114 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 39 minutes.
• 13 MPAs (3%) were present at outset and 30 (8%) at adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP and JI attended the sitting.
• Five minority members were present.

Output

• Parliamentary Secretary for Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering discussed the Annual Report of the Parks and Horticulture Authority for one minute.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Question Hour was not held due to absence of the relevant minister and parliamentary secretary. The Chair deferred 11 starred questions appearing on the agenda for a later sitting.
• The government responded to two Adjournment Motions (AMs) regarding illegal buildings and out-of-school children. Moreover, five AMs were deferred on request of the government.
• The government replied to two Calling Attention Notices moved by PML and JI lawmakers.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on 30 points of order consuming 39 minutes of the proceeding.
• The Opposition parties protested on floor of the House for five minutes against the foul language used by Provincial Law Minister.
• Entire Opposition staged walkout at 1349 hours against the decision to not continue the discussion on measures of good governance.
• A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1349 hours. The Chair ordered to ring the bells for five minutes after headcount however the quorum was found incomplete on recounting and 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.