ISLAMABAD, November 19, 2012: Starting 50 minutes late, the eighth sitting of 87^th session on Monday witnessed low attendance of Senators. Only 11 were present at the outset while 18 were there at the adjournment.

The Upper House adopted two resolutions – offering condolences over the killing of Dunya TV correspondent in Panjor, and deweaponizing Karachi in view of prevailing law and order in the city.

The Deputy Chairman, Leader of Opposition and the parliamentary leaders of PMLF, BNPA and PML did not attend the sitting.

The sitting witnessed a walkout by ANP and protests by PMLN Senators over the issue of presentation of the report on the dual nationality bill on a Private Member’s Day as this was a government agenda.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for two hours and 52 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1650 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started late by 50 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting. The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Leader of the House was present while the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of NP, ANP, JUIF and MQM attended the sitting.
• Eleven Senators were present at the start of the sitting while 18 were there at adjournment. A maximum of 44 Senators were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
• Two Senators applied for leave.
• Two minority senators were present.
• The House took a 31-minute break.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Two Resolutions – the first was in condemnation over the killing of Dunya TV correspondent in Panjor, Balochistan, and the other calling the Government to take effective steps to deweaponize the Karachi in view of prevailing law and order situation in the city – were adopted by the House.

Output

• A Standing Committee Report on the 22^nd Constitutional Amendment Bill was presented.

Order and Institutionalization

• Nine points of order consumed 20 minutes of sitting time.
• The sitting witnessed a walkout by ANP and protests by PMLN Senators over the issue of presentation of the report on the dual nationality bill on a Private Member’s Day as this was a government agenda.

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