ISLAMABAD, November 6, 2012: Starting an hour and six minutes late, the first sitting of 87^th session on Tuesday witnessed low attendance of Senators. Only eight were present at the outset while 16 were there at the adjournment.

Five Senators – one each of MQM, JUIF, NP, ANP and PPPP – spoke on the Motion under Rule 218 on the law and order in the country for 103 minutes, with particular reference to target killings and sectarian violence in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The Chairman and the parliamentary leaders of PML, BNPA, ANP, MQM and PMLF did not attend the sitting.

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

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours.
• The sitting started at 1736 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1630 hours. The proceedings started late by 66 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.
• Only the parliamentary leaders of NP and JUIF attended the sitting.
• Eight Senators were present at the start, while 16 were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• A Minority Senator was present during the sitting.
• Five Senators applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Five Senators – one each of MQM, JUIF, NP, ANP and PPPP – spoke on the Motion Under Rule 218 on the law and order in the country for 103 minutes, with particular reference to target killings and sectarian violence in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Output

• No bill appeared on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two Points of Order consumed nine minutes of the sitting time.
• A PPPP Senator protested over the judiciary’s action against him. The protest lasted for eight minutes.

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