Senate Debates Israeli Attacks on Palestine

ISLAMABAD, May 24, 2021: The Senate suspended its regular Private Members’ Day Agenda to debate the Israeli aggression and state terrorism against Palestine on Monday says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the first sitting of 311th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Senate met for four hours and 45 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 3:45 pm against the scheduled time of 3:30 pm.
  • The chairman presided over the entire proceedings.
  • The deputy chairman was also present for two hours and 45 minutes.
  • The leaders of the house attended the entire sitting.
  • The leader of the opposition attended the sitting for three hours.
  • As many as 58 lawmakers (56%) were present at the outset and 25 (25%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PTI, PPPP, MQMP, JI, PML-N, BAP, ANP, PML-Q and JUI-F attended the sitting.
  • Two minority lawmakers were present.

Representation and Responsiveness                                                     

  • The House passed a motion to suspend the business of private members’ day for debating the Palestine issue. Twenty-six lawmakers including leaders of the house and leader of the opposition for four hours and thirty minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The House was adjourned to meet again on May 25, 2021 (Tuesday) at 16:00 hours.

 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.