Senate Prorogued Amidst Ministerial Absence

ISLAMABAD, November 10, 2017: The Chairman of the Senate announced prorogation of the 269th session on Friday without taking up the scheduled business due to absence of the concerned ministers, observes Free and Fair Election Network in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 15th sitting of Senate’s 269th session:

 Members’ Participation

  • The Senate met for 35 minutes.
  • The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1015 hours.
  • The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Deputy Chairman did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 11 (10%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 26 (25%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PkMAP, MQM, JUI-F, PTI, PML-F and BNP-M attended the sitting.
  • One minority Senator attended the sitting.

 Output

  • The House did not take up the committee and statutory reports appearing on the Orders of the Day.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up only one out of eight Starred Questions for answer during the proceedings. As many as three starred questions were not replied by the government while the relevant minister was also absent during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked two supplementary questions as well.
  • The House did not take up two Calling Attention Notices appearing on the Orders of the Day.

Transparency

  • Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Attendance of lawmakers is available on the website.

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.