ISLAMABAD, October 12, 2012: Starting 30 minutes late, the fifth sitting of ongoing 86^th session on Friday continued to witness low attendance of Senators as only eight were present at the outset and 15 were there at the adjournment of the sitting.

Only seven out of 18 starred questions (requiring oral replies) were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, a total of 17 supplementary questions were also asked.

The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the Standing Committee.

The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was there for 30 minutes. Only the parliamentary leaders of the ANP and PMLF attended the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 48 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1030 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings started late by 30 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 30 minutes.
• Only the parliamentary leaders of PMLF and ANP attended the sitting.
• Only eight Senators (8% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 15 (15%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
• Two Minority Senators were present during the sitting.
• Three Senators applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A Calling Attention Notice about tax imposed on incoming overseas telephone calls by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was taken up by the House.
• Only seven out of 18 questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, seven supplementary questions were also asked.

Output

• The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the Standing Committee.

Order and Institutionalization

• No Points of Order were raised during the sitting.
• 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 Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.

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