Senate leaves 92 percent agenda unaddressed due to lack of quorum

ISLAMABAD, November 8, 2021: The Senate left 92 percent agenda unaddressed on Monday due to lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the second sitting of 315th session:

 Members’ Participation

  • The Senate met for 22 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 06:05 pm against the scheduled time of 05:30 pm.
  • The chairman presided over the entire proceedings.
  • The deputy chairman was not present.
  • The leader of the house attended the entire sitting.
  • The leader of the opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 30 lawmakers (30%) were present at the outset and 18 (18%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F, PTI and JI attended the sitting.
  • Two minority lawmaker was present.

Output

  • A PTI lawmaker introduced the National Highways Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was referred to the relevant committee for further consideration.
  • Tabled by minister for foreign affairs, the House adopted a resolution paying tribute to late Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and urged upon the Indian Government to allow access to UN Observers, International Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations as well as International Media into IIOJK to assess the ground realities.
  • The House did not consider 11 private members’ bills, five resolutions and a motion under Rule 115 regarding withdrawal of a bill.

 Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House did not consider three motions under Rule 218.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A PTI lawmaker spoke on a point of order for two minutes.
  • The opposition walked out from the proceedings at 06:23 pm against inflation in the country and did not return to the House till adjournment of sitting.
  • A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 06:25 pm which was found incomplete upon counting and the House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 04:00 pm.

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