ISLAMABAD, August 2, 2012: Starting 40 minutes late, the fifth sitting of Senate’s 84^th session, which met for three hours and 57 minutes, debated the law and order in Balochistan for an hour and 41 minutes.

PMLN and ANP Senators staged a protest against the absence of Interior Minister for ten minutes. JUIF Senators also staged a 30-minute walkout against the absence of Interior Minister. However the minister reached the House and took part in the debate on Balochistan.

The House adopted a Resolution to condemn killings of Muslims in Myanmar.

The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition were present during the sitting.

The Parliamentary Leaders of NP, JUIF and ANP attended the sitting. Ten Points of Order consumed 25 minutes of the sitting time.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• Senate met for three hours and 57 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1110 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1030 hours. The proceedings started late by 40 minutes.
• The Deputy Chairman chaired the sitting. The Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition were present during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of NP, JUIF and ANP attended the sitting.
• Twelve Senators (12% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 14 (13%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two Members were applied for leave to be absent.
• The House took a break for 22 minutes.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House adopted a resolution to condemn killings of Muslims in Myanmar.

 Output

• No bill appeared on the Orders of the Day.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Ten Points of Order consumed 25 minutes of the sitting time.
• PMLN and ANP Senators Members staged a protest against the absence of Interior Minister for ten minutes. JUIF Senators also staged a 30-minute walkout against the absence of Interior Minister.

 Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN