ISLAMABAD, March 03, 2015: The Punjab Assembly adopted three resolutions and witnessed the introduction of a private bill against child marriages on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 71 minutes behind the schedule with 29 lawmakers (8%) present at the start and 42 (11%) at the time of adjournment. The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.

A PPPP lawmaker introduced the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2015 which forwarded to the relevant standing committee for a report within two weeks.

The House adopted three resolutions regarding quality education in government institutions, taxation on imported agricultural products and penalizing those causing road mishaps.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 29 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1111 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• Twenty-nine legislators (8%) were present at the start of the sitting and 42 (11%) at the time of adjournment.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• Among parliamentary leaders, only the JI leader was present.
• Four out of eight minority members were present.
• Thirty members applied for leave.

Output

• A PPPP lawmaker introduced the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2015 which was forwarded to the relevant standing committee for a report within two weeks.
• The House adopted three resolutions regarding quality education in government institutions, taxation on imported agricultural products and penalizing those causing road mishaps.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Thirteen out of 42 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded by the relevant department. In addition, the legislators raised 29 supplementary questions during the sitting.
• The House took up four adjournment motions regarding sale of donkey meat, non-consideration of merit in education department’s appointments in Toba Tek Singh, setting up police stations at land specified for mosques in Pakpattan and non-merit based allocation of land in Moza Niaz Baig, Lahore.

Order and Institutionalization

• Twenty points of order consumed nine minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• Independent lawmakers along with PML and PPPP members staged an eight-minute walkout against the Chair for not allowing a lawmaker to speak on the floor of the House.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.

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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.