ISLAMABAD, May 24, 2018:  The Senate on Thursday witnessed introduction of three government bills which were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the first sitting of 278^th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for 42 minutes.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
• The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Chairman was not present.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition was present for 29 minutes.
• As many as 22 (21%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 28 (27%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PTI and PML-N attended the sitting.
• Two minority lawmakers were present.

 Output 

• Minister for Climate Change introduced the Succession (Amendment) Bill, 2018, the West Pakistan Juvenile Smoking (Repeal) Bill, 2018 and the West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses (Repeal) Bill, 2018. All these bills were referred to the relevant committees for further deliberation.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House did not take up two Calling Attention Notices due to absence of relevant ministers.
• Nineteen lawmakers spoke on as may matters of public importance consuming 30 minutes of the proceedings.

 Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers is available on the website.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.