ISLAMABAD, June 11, 2012: Starting 45 minutes late, the seventh sitting of Senate’s 82^nd session, which met for an hour and 51 minutes, debated budget amid Senators’ low attendance on Monday.

With only eight legislators present at the start and 16 when the sitting was adjourned, a maximum of 32 Senators were observed at any time of the sitting.

Six Senators spoke on the budget – two from PPP and one each from MQM, ANP, PML and an Independent – for 92 minutes (83% of sitting time).

The Leader of the House attended the proceedings while the Leader of the Opposition was not present.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• Senate met for one hour and 51 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1745 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The House proceedings started late by 45 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the sitting. The Deputy Chairman was not present.

• The Leader of the House was present. The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.

• The parliamentary leaders of PMLF and ANP attended the sitting.
• Eight Senators (8% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 16 (15%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Six Senators spoke on the Annual Budget Statement – two from PPP and one each from MQM, ANP, PML and an Independent – for 92 minutes (83% of sitting time).

Output

• The House debated the budget.

Order and Institutionalization

• No Points of Order was 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 copies of the budget speech were available to Senators.

 

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