ISLAMABAD, March 9: The fourth sitting of Senate’s 79^th session lasting two hours and 11 minutes passed the National Commission for Human Rights Bill 2012 and also adopted a resolution condemning suicide attacks on political meetings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Commencing 34 minutes late, the Upper House witnessed low attendance of Senators with 12 present at the outset of the sitting and 26 at the end. The parliamentary leaders of the PMLN, ANP, MQM, PKMAP, NP, and JI attended the sitting, while the leaders of PML, PPPS, BNPA, JWP and PMLF were absent. The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.

Six retiring Senators made farewell speeches.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• Senate met for two hours and 11 minutes.
• The sitting commenced at 1034 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The House proceedings started late by 34 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition remained present throughout the sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of the PMLN, ANP, MQM, PKMAP, NP, and JI attended the sitting, while the leaders of the PML, PPPS, BNPA, JWP and PMLF were absent.
• Twelve Senators were present at the start and while 26 Senators were present when the sitting was adjourned.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House unanimously adopted a resolution condemning suicide attacks on political meetings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

• The Question Hour was not held during the sitting.
  

Output

• The Upper House passed the National Commission for Human Rights Bill 2012.
  

Order and Institutionalization

• There were no Points of Order.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum, visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting, was not pointed out by any of the Senators.

 The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN