ISLAMABAD, February 25, 2014: The lawmakers belonging to opposition parties boycotted the second sitting of 102^nd Senate session on Tuesday against the alleged rigging in LA-22 by-elections in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet based on direct observation of the House.

Following the question hour, the opposition members left the House that led to the quorum problem and subsequently adjournment of the sitting. The House could not take up any of the agenda items on the Orders of the Day except the starred questions.

Eleven of the 28 starred questions (requiring oral as well as written replies) were taken up and responded to by the ministers. Additionally, members asked 39 supplementary questions.

Two members spoke on four points of order consuming 21 minutes of the proceedings’ time.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 38 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1508 hours against the scheduled time of 1430 hours with a delay of 38 minutes.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was not present.
• Thirteen senators each were present at the outset and at the time of adjournment while a maximum of 38 were there at one point during the proceedings.
• The parliamentary leader of BNP-A attended the sitting.
• Three minority members attended the sitting.
• Four members applied for leave.

• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Eleven of the 28 starred questions (requiring oral as well as written replies) were taken up and responded to by the ministers. Additionally, members asked 39 supplementary questions. The questions were directed to ministries of parliamentary affairs, law, justice & human rights, ports & shipping, communications, education and national food security & research.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two members spoke on four points of order consuming 21 minutes of the proceedings’ time.

• The members belonging to opposition parties walked out from the House against the alleged rigging in LA-22 by-elections in Azad Jammu & Kashmir.
• Following the boycott, a member pointed out the quorum. The chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. However, the quorum was found incomplete on recount and the sitting was adjourned.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.  

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization; a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted.