ISLAMABAD, November 12, 2012: Starting 50 minutes late, the third sitting of 87^th session on Monday witnessed low attendance. Only six Senators were present at the outset and 13 were there when the sitting was adjourned.

Most of the agenda items appearing on the Order of the Day left unaddressed. Only one Motion under rule 218 about the law and order in the country, with particular reference to target killings and sectarian violence in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan was discussed for 74 minutes.

The House unanimously passed a condolence Resolution about the demise of the former Senator Syed Iqbal Haider. Presided over by the Chairman for 75 minutes, the rest of the sitting was chaired by a member of the Panel of the Chairpersons.

The parliamentary leaders of PML, BNPA, ANP, MQM and PMLF did not attend the sitting whereas both the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended it.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1650 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started late by 50 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting for 75 minutes.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• Both the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of NP and JUI-F were present.
• Six Senator were present at the start and 13 were present when the sitting was adjourned. Maximum 32 Senators (31%) were present during the sitting.
• Seven Senators had applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Nine Senators – three of JUIF, two each of ANP and PML, and one each of PPPP and BNPA – spoke for 74 minutes on the motion under rule 218 about the law and order in the country – with particular reference to target killings and sectarian violence in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan.
• A condolence Resolution about the demise of former Senator – Syed Iqbal Haider – was unanimously adopted.

Output

• No bill appeared on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• Three points of order consumed eight minutes of the sitting time.
• ANP Senators staged walkout on the issue of target killing in Karachi. The walkout was staged eight minutes before the sitting before was adjourned.

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