• 69 Lawmakers Participate in the Proceedings

ISLAMABAD, May 15, 2019: The Senate addressed 93 percent of its agenda during 288^th session with 67 percent lawmakers participating in the proceedings. The House passed five private members’ bills and a government bill during the session that continued between April 25 and May 13, 2019 while it also debated the recent increase in prices of petroleum products and annual report on human rights.

The session’s agenda mainly comprised 20 private members’ bills, three government bills, ten Calling Attention Notices (CANs), six Motions under Rule 218, 12 resolutions, 27 Senate Committees’ reports, 19 motions seeking extension for submission of reports by standing committees.

A total of 69 out of 103 (or 67 percent) lawmakers including 54 men and 15 women participated in the proceedings of the House by contributing to the agenda and/ or to debates. The participating male lawmakers included 13 members of PPPP, 12 of PML-N, seven of PTI, three each of JUI-F and NP, two of JI, one each of BNP, PkMAP, MQM and 11 independents.  Similarly, six female PPPP lawmakers, four of PML-N, three of PTI and one each of MQM and ANP participated in the proceedings.

On the other hand, 34 (33 percent) lawmakers including 29 men and five women did not participate in the proceedings throughout the session. The non-participating members included 15 independents, four lawmakers of PTI, three of PML-N, two each of BAP, NP and MQM and one of PPPP. Five female legislators including three Independent and one each of MQM and PkMAP did not participate in proceedings.

The House observed punctuality during the session with nine out 12 sittings starting on their scheduled time. On an average, each sitting started only half a minute behind the scheduled time. The maximum delay of four minutes was witnessed during fifth sitting. The seventh sitting was the shortest one that continued for an hour and 42 minutes seven minutes, whereas the fourth sitting was the longest that continued for four hours and 46 minutes

The session’s proceedings were interrupted on nine occasions due to lawmakers’ walkouts or the lack of quorum. The opposition lawmakers staged six walkouts mainly against the ministerial absence from the House while the quorum was identified thrice during the session with two sittings being adjourned due to lack of quorum.

To download the complete report, click here