ISLAMABAD, August 17, 2020: The Senate passed the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 but deferred two other bills related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for further deliberation on them, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the second sitting of 302^nd session:

  Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for five hours and 31 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1736 hours against the scheduled time of 1700 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire proceedings.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the sitting for five hours and seven minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition was present for three hours and five minutes.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 29 lawmakers (28%) were present at the outset and 16 (15%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, JI, PTI, PkAMAP, JUI-F and PPPP attended the sitting.
• Two minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• A PML-N lawmaker introduced three private member’s bills which were forwarded to the relevant committees. These bills were the Compulsory Teaching of Arabic Language Bill, 2020; the Protection against Harassment of Students in Educational Institutions Bill, 2020 and the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• The Chair deferred two bills on the request of mover which were the Compulsory Blood Test of the Spouses and Proposed Spouses for Thalassaemia Disease Bill, 2019 and the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
• Three private members’ bills were withdrawn by their movers after passage of the motions under Rule 115. These bills were the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020] (Amendment of Articles 213 and 215).
• The House passed a motion under Rule 126 (7) for consideration of the Day Care Centres Bill, 2018 in the joint sitting of Parliament. The bill passed by the Senate has been pending in the National Assembly for more than 90 days.
• The House adopted three resolutions which demanded to construct small rubber dams for water storage in Islamabad; give first aid and civil defence training to students in the educational institutions of Islamabad and ensure teachings of the Holy Quran with Urdu translation in all the universities under the administrative control of the Federal Government in the country.
• A resolution was withdrawn by its mover which was about authority with Pharmaceutical Companies to increase prices of medicines.
• A resolution about setting up separate lock ups for the custody of juveniles in police stations of Islamabad was not considered due to mover’s absence.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Interior presented reports of the Committee on the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Narcotics Control tabled report of the Committee on the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• The House passed the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 after presentation of committee’s report on it while two other bills were deferred for further deliberation as the opposition wanted to move amendments on these legislative proposals related to FATF.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House debated three motions under Rule 218 which were regarding increase in polio cases in the country; present political situation and performance of the Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital Islamabad.
• Two other motions regarding progress made by Pakistan to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and non-introduction of the telemetering system for distribution of water amongst the provinces were deferred.
• Five lawmakers and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs spoke on points of public importance for 29 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• PPPP lawmakers staged token walk out from the House against erection of police check posts and hurdlers during hearing of PPPP President before Accountability Court in the Toshakhana (gift depository) case.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on August 18, 2020 (Tuesday) at 1800 hours.

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