ISLAMABAD, December 13, 2012: Starting 30 minutes behind the schedule, the second sitting of the 88^th session continued to witness low attendance of Senators.

Only five Senators were present at the outset and 26 were there when the sitting was adjourned. Parliamentary leaders of MQM, BNPA, NP and PMLF did not attend the sitting.

The Deputy Chairman chaired the sitting. The Leader of the House and the Leader of the House attended the sitting.

The Trade Organizations Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the Standing Committee.

A Calling Attention Notice about the government’s failure to devise a formula for CNG prices was not taken.

Twenty one Points of Order consumed 70 minutes of the sitting time.

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 48 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1630 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started 30 minutes late.
• The Deputy Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML, JUIF and ANP attended the sitting.
• Only five Senators were present at the outset while there were 26 (26%) at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 38 Senators were present at one point of the sitting.
• Two Minority Senators attended the sitting.
• Eleven Senators applied for leave.
• The House took a 33 minutes prayer break.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A Calling Attention Notice about the government’s failure to devise a formula for CNG prices was not taken due to absence of the relevant Minister.
• Three out of 11 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries. Additionally, seven supplementary questions were asked. 

Output

• The Trade Organizations Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the standing committee.

Order and institutionalization

• A total of 21 Points of Order consumed 70 minutes (42% of sitting time).
• 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 Senate proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a Member organization of FAFEN.