ISLAMABAD, June 16, 2015: The Senate witnessed low attendance of lawmakers on Tuesday as the House continued its debate on the annual budget statement for the fiscal year 2015-16, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Eighteen members (17%) were present at the start of the sitting and 15 (14%) at the time of adjournment. Four lawmakers – one each from PML-N, ANP, PPPP and JUI-F – participated in the debate for 70% of the proceedings’ time.

The House took up a calling attention notice (CAN) on alleged irregularities in the recent local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while another CAN on refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan getting Indian citizenship was not taken up.

The House also deferred an adjournment motion on a senator’s statement regarding the alleged involvement of foreign embassies in telephone tapping.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and eight minutes.
• The sitting started at 1033 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The sitting was entirely chaired by a member of the Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Chairman and Deputy Chairman were not present.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was not present.
• The Prime Minister was also absent.
• Parliamentary leaders of ANP. PML, PkMAP, BNP-M, NP, PML-N and JUI-F were present.
• 18 members (17%) were present at the start and 15 (14%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 36 lawmakers (35%) attended the proceedings.
• Three non-Muslim members were present.
• Two members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Four lawmakers – one each from PML-N, ANP, PPPP and JUI-F – participated in the debate on the annual budget statement 2015-16 for 89 minutes.
• The House took up a calling attention notice (CAN) on alleged irregularities in the recent local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Another CAN on Pakistani and Afghan refugees getting Indian citizenship was not taken up.
• The House also deferred an adjournment motion on a senator’s statement regarding the alleged involvement of foreign embassies in telephone tapping.

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 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.