ISLAMABAD, May 6, 2015: The Senate adopted two resolutions and discussed the delay in execution of the Karachi Water Supply Project (K-4) during its sitting on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started at its scheduled time with 18 legislators (17%) present at the start and 31 (30%) at the time of adjournment. The House adopted two resolutions to condemn the killing of human rights activist Sabeen Mahmood in Karachi and against the anti-Islam art show held in Texas, United States earlier this week. In addition, the House also took up a calling attention notice (CAN) condemning the murder of Sabeen Mahmood.

The Chairman took note of the absence of CDA’s Planning and Engineering Members and the Joint Secretary Establishment Division during the question hour and referred the matter to the privilege committee.

The House also discussed an adjournment motion sponsored by two MQM lawmakers regarding delay in execution of the K-4 project. Twelve lawmakers – six belonging to MQM, three from PPPP and one each from PML-N, ANP and PkMAP – participated in the debate for 79 minutes, while the Minister for Planning, Development and Reform concluded the discussion during his six-minute speech on the issue.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for three hours and 43 minutes.
• The sitting started at its scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was also present.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for two hours and 43 minutes.
• 18 senators (17%) were present at the start and 31 (30%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 56 senators (54%) were present at one point of the sitting
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, BNP-A, BNP-M and NP were absent.
• Two minority members attended the sitting.
• Four members applied for leave.

Output

• The House adopted two resolutions to condemn the killing of human rights activist Sabeen Mahmood in Karachi and against the anti-Islam art show held in Texas, United States earlier this week.
• The Law Minister presented the Islamic Ideology Council’s annual reports for the years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Seven out of 18 questions were taken up and responded by the government departments. Additionally, the legislators raised 38 supplementary questions.
• The House took up a CAN condemning the murder of Sabeen Mahmood, which was responded by the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
• Another CAN dealing with wheat procurement at a higher price from Ukraine was left unaddressed due to the mover’s absence.
• The House discussed an adjournment motion sponsored by two MQM lawmakers regarding delay in execution of the K-4 project.
• The State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs moved a motion under Rule 157(2) to discuss the annual report on the observance and implementation of the principles of policy in relation to the affairs of the federation for the year 2011-2012.
• The Chairman took note of the absence of CDA’s Planning and Engineering Members and the Joint Secretary Establishment Division during the question hour and referred the matter to the privilege committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• No point of order was raised during the sitting.

Transparency

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

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way 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 are excepted.