ISLAMABAD, March 13, 2013: The Senate, which met for an hour and 32 minutes in the 16^th sitting of the 91^st session, passed the National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013 and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2013. Both are already passed by the National Assembly.

The House also discussed the matter regarding names of superior courts judges having dual nationality as the issue was raised through a motion under rule 60. Two senators deliberated the issue for 25 minutes.

Only nine senators were present at the start of the sitting while 23 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 39 senators were present at one point of the sitting.

The Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The parliamentary leaders of PML, BNPA, NP, and PMLF did not attend the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

 

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Senate met for an hour and 32 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1650 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of 50 minutes.
• The Chairman chaired the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, ANP, and JUIF were present whereas those of PML, BNPA, NP, and PMLF were absent.
• Only nine senators were present at the outset while 23 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum, 39 senators were present at one point of the sitting.
• Two minority senators attended the sitting.
• Seven senators applied for leave.

 

Representation and Responsiveness

• Three of five starred questions on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministry. Additionally, six supplementary questions were asked.
• A calling attention notice appearing on the agenda remained unaddressed.
• A motion under rule 60 to discuss the matter regarding names of superior courts judges having dual nationality was taken up. Two members deliberated upon the issue for 25 minutes.

 

Output

• The House passed the National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013 and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2013. Both the bills have already been passed by the National Assembly.

 

Order and Institutionalization

• No incident of walkout, boycott or protest observed during the sitting.

 

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was 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