ISLAMABAD, March 4, 2014: The Senate sitting was adjourned due to lack of quorum on Tuesday during 6^th sitting of 102 session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet based on direct observation of the proceedings.

The quorum was pointed out soon after the opposition parties except MQM walked out of the House over the absence of federal minister for interior to present Islamabad attack report. In the beginning, the opposition parties requested the Chair to ask the federal interior minister to brief the House about the terrorist attack on district courts Islamabad. As soon as the state minister for Interior started speaking on the issue, the opposition members left the House.

PPPP female lawmaker presented report of the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and Capital Administration and Development on The Civil Servant (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to amend the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

Chairman, Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented report of the committee to amend the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 [The National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2010 (XVIII of 2010)]. The Leader of the House presented a motion to declare it infructuous which was approved by the House.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 26 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1109 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours with a delay of 39 minutes.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was not present.
• Fifteen senators were present while 19 were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 48 members were observed to be present at a point during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PPPP, MQM, NP, PkMAP and ANP attended the proceedings.
• Four minority members attended the sitting.
• Five members applied for leave.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• PPPP female lawmaker presented report of the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and Capital Administration and Development on The Civil Servant (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to amend the Civil Servants Act, 1973.
• Chairman, Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented report of the Committee to amend the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 [The National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2010 (XVIII of 2010)].
• Leader of the House presented a motion to declare the bill infructuous which was approved.
• The Chair expressed annoyance over not presenting the report of National Security Policy in the House.

Order and Institutionalization

• Lawmakers spoke on fifteen points of order consuming two hours and four minutes.
• PML lawmaker walked out of the sitting for two minutes, complaining the Chair over allocating less time to him to speak on point of order. He was also supported by PPPP lawmakers who also left the House.
• The opposition members except MQM walked out the House against the absence of federal Interior minister to present report on Islamabad incident.
• Following the walkout, a PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum and the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. However, the quorum was found incomplete on recount and the sitting was adjourned till Thursday morning.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on senators’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization; a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted.