ISLAMABAD, January 25, 2021: The Senate referred 12 private members’ bills to the relevant committees after their introduction in the House and adopted five resolutions on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the 2^nd sitting of 306^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for three hours and two minutes.
• The sitting started at 1510 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire proceedings.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Opposition Leader attend the sitting for two hours.
• As many as 25 lawmakers (24%) were present at the outset and 12 (11%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, JI and PKMAP, ANP attended the sitting.
• One minority lawmakers was present.

Output

• The House witnessed introduction of 12 Private Members’ Bills which were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration. These bills were the Guardian and Wards (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Public Complaints (Removal of Grievance) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Right of Access to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad Women University Islamabad Bill, 2020; the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (Amendment of Section 123B); the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Pakistan Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad Educational Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2021; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the West Pakistan Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the General Clauses (Amendment) Bill,
• The Chair deferred two bills seeking amendments in the Constitution till next Private Members’ Day while three other legislative proposals were not considered due to absence of movers.
• The House passed one private member’s bill which was the Pakistan Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• A bill – the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020 – was rejected by the House.
• A bill seeking amendment in Article 213 of the Constitution was withdrawn by its mover following passage of motion under Rule 115.
• The Chair referred the National Highways Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to the relevant committee again after consent of the mover.
• The House adopted five private members’ resolutions which demanded the government to check circulation of fake currency notes, establish drug rehabilitation centers in every district, take result oriented steps for blocking the publication and floating of blasphemous material on social media networks, devise a comprehensive distance learning strategy and establish a border crossing point for public on Pak-Afghan border in the area of Kharakai, Shahi Bin Shahi in District Lower Dir.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House passed a motion under Rule 126 (7) for consideration of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the joint sitting of Parliament.

Order and Institutionalization 

• Ten lawmakers spoke on as many points of public importance for 57 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on January 26, 2021 (Tuesday) at 1500 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