ISLAMABAD, June 10, 2014: The opposition in the Upper House staged a walkout against the absence of ministers and later opened debate on the federal budget 2014-15 during the 5^th sitting of its 105^th session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

The sitting started 56 minutes behind schedule. PPPP lawmaker began general discussion on the federal budget and spoke for an hour and five minutes, which was followed by his party lawmaker who took the floor for 20 minutes.

The entire opposition walked out of the House over the absence of ministers and not getting briefing over the terrorist attacks in Karachi and Taftan. The Chair asked the Leader of the House to ensure the presence of ministers and adjourn the sitting for half an hour. Later, the proceedings resumed at 1800 hours.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 34 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1656 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours with a delay of 56 minutes.
• The Deputy Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• Eleven Senators were present at the outset, 34 at the adjournment while a maximum of 43 at one point during the proceedings.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, PkMAP and PML-F attended the sitting.
• Three minority members attended the proceedings.
• Four members applied for leave.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was not present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• PPPP lawmaker opened debate on the federal budget 2014-15 and spoke for an hour and five minutes, which was followed by his party lawmaker who took the floor for 20 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• The entire opposition walked out of the House at 1730 hours over the absence of ministers and not getting briefing over the terrorist attacks in Karachi and Taftan.
• The Chair asked the Leader of the House to ensure the presence of ministers and adjourn the sitting for half an hour. Later the proceedings resumed at 1800 hours.
• Lawmakers spoke on ten points of order for 31 minutes. On a point of order, an independent lawmaker demanded laptop for each lawmaker instead of giving copies of federal budget to them.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.  

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization; a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted.