ISLAMABAD, October 10, 2012: The Upper House on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the attack on 14-year old girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai. The resolution was moved by an ANP Senator.

Starting 38 minutes late, the third sitting of 86^th session on Wednesday witnessed low attendance of Senators. Eleven were present at the outset while 16 were there at the adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.

Out of 34 questions on the agenda, ten were taken up and responded to by ministers. Additionally 19 supplementary questions were asked.

The House took up a Calling Attention Notice drawing the attention of the Minister for National Regulations and Services to “publication of advertisement for the post of CEO of the Drug Regulatory Authority.

A total of 20 Points of Order consumed two hours of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order raised attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for three hours and 30 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1708 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1630 hours. The proceedings started late by 38 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition were present during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PMLF, NP, and ANP attended the sitting.
• Eleven Senators were present at the start, while 16 were there when the sitting was adjourned.
• Three Minority Senators were present during the sitting.
• One Senator applied for leave. 

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House unanimously adopted a Resolution to condemn attack on the girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
• Out of 34 questions on the agenda, ten were taken up and responded to by ministers. Additionally 19 supplementary questions were asked.

Order and Institutionalization

• A total of 20 Points of Order consumed two hours of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order raised attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

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