ISLAMABAD, February 27, 2013: Starting 52 minutes late, the 8^th sitting of the ongoing Senate session was marked by low attendance. Only 11 senators were present at the outset while 22 were there at the adjournment. The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.

The Aboliation of Privy Purses and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2013 was taken up and sent to the Standing Committee. The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.

A calling attention notice appearing on the agenda was not taken up.

Three of the 17 starred questions appearing on the agenda were responded to by the relevant ministeries. Additionally, eight supplementary questions were asked.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1122 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1030 hours, witnessing a delay of 52 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the entitre sitting.
• The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, JUIF, and ANP were present whereas those of PML, BNPA, NP and PMLF did not attend the sitting.
• Only 11 senators were present at the outset while 22 were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 36 senators were present at one point of sitting.
• One minority senator attended the sitting.
• Three senators applied for leave.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• Three of the 17 starred questions appearing on the agenda were responded to by the relevant ministeries. Additionally, eight supplementary questions were asked.
• A calling attention notice appearing on the agenda was not taken up.

Output

• The Aboliation of Privy Purses and Privileges (Amendment) Bill 2013 was taken up and sent to the Standing Committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• No points of order were raised during the sitting.
• There were no instances of walkouts, protests or boycotts in the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.

 

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