ISLAMABAD, July 30, 2012: Starting 30 minutes behind schedule, the second sitting of Senate, which lasted an hour and 22 minutes, witnessed a protest by the government’s coalition partner – ANP – and NP over the power outages.

The sitting was also marked by low attendance of Senators. Only eight Senators were present at the outset of the sitting while 22 were there when it was adjourned.

Most of the Agenda items were left unaddressed. Six Motions under Rule 218 appearing on the Orders of the Day were not taken up by the House. Similarly, seven Resolutions were also not taken up by House.

Five Senators – two PMLN, and one each of JUIF, MQM and NP – debated the Motion under Rule 218 regarding power outages.

Fifteen Points of Order consumed 45 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

The ANP and NP Senators staged a five-minute walkout against the power outages in the country.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 22 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1700 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1630 hours. The House proceedings started late by 30 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting. The Deputy Chairman was also present.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of the NP, JUIF and ANP attended the sitting.
• Eight Senators (8% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 22 (22%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Six Senators applied for leave.
• Two minority members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Six Motions under Rule 218 appearing on the Orders of the Day were not taken up by the House.
• Similarly, seven Resolutions were also not taken up by House.
• Five Senators – two PMLN, and one each of JUIF, MQM and NP – debated the Motion under Rule 218 regarding power outages.

Output

• No Bills appeared on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• Fifteen Points of Order consumed 45 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• The ANP and NP Senators staged a five-minute walkout against the power outages in the country.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ 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