Senate Session Prorogued After Transacting Entire Agenda

ISLAMABAD, February 4, 2021: The 306th Session of Senate was prorogued after transacting entire agenda on Thursday, observers Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the sixth sitting of 306th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The Senate met for three hours and twenty-five minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Chairman presided over the entire proceedings.
  • The Deputy Chairman was not present.
  • The Leaders of the House and the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
  • As many as 25 lawmakers (24%) were present at the outset and 14 (13%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PTI, PPPP, MQM and PkMAP attended the sitting.
  • Two minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • On behalf of Convener Senate Special Committee on Law Reforms, a member of the Committee presented final report of the Committee on the tasks performed by it from May 29, 2018 to date regarding reforms in the laws of the land.
  • Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented seven reports on as many bills. These bills were the Constitution Amendment Bill 2020 (Amendment of Article 73); the Guardians and Wards (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020] (Amendment of Article 93 and Third Schedule); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018] (Amendment of Article 11); the General Clauses (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Public Complaints (Removal of Grievance) Bill, 2021.
  • Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Pakistan Single Windows Bill, 2021 which was referred to the committee for deliberation.
  • Tabled by the Leader of the Opposition, the House passed the Senate Services and Regulation Amendment Bill 2021.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Five lawmakers discussed a motions of thanks to the President for 56 minutes.
  • The House took up ten out of 18 starred questions while lawmakers asked 12 supplementary questions as well.
  • A lawmaker spoke on a point of public importance for 19 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Five lawmakers spoke on points of order for 47 minutes.
  • The House was prorogued for an indefinite period.

 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