ISLAMABAD, May 7, 2015: The Senate’s sitting on Thursday was marked by low attendance of lawmakers and a major chunk of the time being consumed by points of order (POs), says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Only 15 legislators (14%) were present at the start of the sitting and 28 (27%) at the time of adjournment. The lawmakers raised 45 points of order (POs) which took up 44% of the proceedings’ time.

Three lawmakers (one each from PML, PML-F and PPPP) discussed the annual report on the observance and implementation of the federation’s principles of policy for the year 2011-2012 for 38 minutes.

The House also took up a calling attention notice (CAN) sponsored by an ANP senator regarding the difference in tariff charged by PESCO and IESCO in their respective regions. Another CAN moved by a PPPP lawmaker regarding delay in announcement of the eighth NFC Award was left unaddressed due to the relevant minister’s absence.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for three hours and 39 minutes.
• The sitting started at its scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader attended the entire sitting.
• The Prime Minister was not present.
• 15 senators (14%) were present at the start and 28 (27%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 52 senators (50%) were present.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, NP, BNP-A and PTI were absent.
• Three out of four minority members were present.
• None of the members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up four out of 38 questions appearing on the agenda. Additionally, the legislators raised 28 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• Three lawmakers discussed the annual report on the observance and implementation of the federation’s principles of policy for the year 2011-2012 for 38 minutes.
• The House took up a CAN sponsored by an ANP senator regarding the difference in tariff charged by PESCO and IESCO in their respective regions.
• Another CAN moved by a PPPP lawmaker regarding delay in announcement of the eighth NFC Award was not taken up due to the relevant minister’s absence.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised 45 POs consumed which 97 minutes (44%) of the sitting.

Transparency

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

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way 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 are excepted.