ISLAMABAD, December 22, 2021: The Senate transacted 90 percent agenda and witnessed presentation of five reports of as many standing committees, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the first sitting of 316th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for two hours and two minutes.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 04:00 pm.
• The chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The deputy chairman was not present.
• The leader of the house attended the entire sitting.
• The leader of the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• The Prime Minister was not present.
• As many as 19 lawmakers (19%) were present at the outset and 28 (28%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PTI, PkMAP, JI and PML attended the sitting.
• Two minority lawmaker were present.

 Output

• Chairman Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting presented special report on the seminar for young media professionals from Pakistan organized by the combined efforts of the committee and Chinese embassy in Pakistan.
• Chairman Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination presented report of the committee on the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
• On behalf of Chairman Standing Committee on Railways, a member of the committee presented report on a starred question regarding non-inclusion of Balochistan province in ML-1 project.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Water Resources presented report of the committee on a starred question regarding decrease in water level in the whole country and the steps taken by the government to cope with the issue.
• On behalf of Chairman Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, a member of the committee presented report on the Tax Laws (Third Amendment) Bill, 2021. Later, the House adopted the recommendations on the Money Bill.
• Minister of state for parliamentary affairs presented the annual Report for the financial year 2020-21 of the Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan on the state of Pakistan’s Economy
• Adviser to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development presented the 41 Instruments (14 Conventions, 4 Protocols and 23 Recommendations) of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

 Representation and Responsiveness 

• The House took up nine out of 13 starred questions while the lawmakers asked 23 supplementary questions.
• A motion of thanks to the President for his address to Parliament on September 13, 2021 was not taken up.
• Nine lawmakers spoke on points of public importance for 35 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, December 24, 2021 at 10:30 am.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted