ISLAMABAD, February 21, 2013: Starting 37 minutes late, the fourth sitting of 91^st session which met for only 22 minutes on Thursday, witnessed low attendance of Senators. Only five senators were present at the outset while 22 were there at the adjournment.

The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition as well as the parliamentary leaders of MQM and ANP attended the proceedings. The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.

The standing committee on Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs presented a report on The Constitution (Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill 2013till today.

A privilege motion was moved by a senator belonging to PPPP over the misbehavior of a WAPDA official in Kundkot; the motion was sent to the Senate Standing Committee on Rules, Procedure and Privileges.

Four POs consuming 10 minutes of the session were raised.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for 22 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1107 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1030 hours, witnessing a delay of 37 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Chairman was absent.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting whereas the Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM and ANP were present whereas those of PPPP, PMLN, PML, JUIF, BNPA and NP and PMLF (single member parties) did not attend the sitting.
• Only five senators were present at the outset while 22 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 22 senators were present at one point of sitting.

• Two senators on minority seats attended the sitting.
• Six senators applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A motion to condone the delay in the presentation of a standing committee report on The (Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill 2013 was presented in the Upper House by a Senator belonging to PPPP.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed by any of the legislators.

Output

• One resolution sponsored by a PPPP Senator to extend the services of Pakistan (redressal of Under – representation)ordinance, 2012for a further period of 120 days with effect from 29^th January, 2013.
• A standing committee report on the legislative scrutiny of the Constitution (Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill 2013 was presented.

 

Order and Institutionalization

• Four points of order consumed 10 minutes.

 

• A privilege motion was moved by a senator belonging to PPPP over the misbehavior of a WAPDA official in Kundkot. It was sent to the Senate Standing Committee on Rules, Procedure and Privileges.

 

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