The sitting started an hour and 30 minutes late against the stipulated time of 1700 hours and lasted for an hour and four minutes. Although the attendance of the Members was relatively better, as compared to the previous sittings, the Members only raised Points of Order to debate upon the petroleum prices and disregarded most of the regular agenda. There were 174 Members present at the outset and a maximum of 234 Members’ attendance was recorded at one point during the sitting.
Points of Order consumed 95% of the sitting time, while the two bills on the Orders of the Day were not taken up by the House. The National Assembly did not debate upon the Motion Under Rule 259 regarding increase in the prices of petroleum products. However, this issue remained the subject of the POs raised during the sitting.
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 25 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition was present for 31 minutes. The Parliamentary Leaders of the ANP and PPPS were present, while the leaders of other parliamentary parties remained absent. The following are some key observations of the Parliamentary Business:
Members’ participation in House proceedings
- The National Assembly met for an hours and 40 minutes.
- The eleventh sitting started at 1830 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The House proceedings started late by an hour and 30 minutes.
- The Speaker chaired the initial 50 minutes of the sitting, while the remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Prime Minister was present for 25 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition attended the sitting for 31 minutes.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of the ANP and PPPS were present, while the leaders of the PML, MMAP, MQM, PMLF, NPP and BNPA were absent.
- The Chief Whips of the PPPP, PMLN, PML and MQM were present, while the chief whips of the ANP, MMAP, PMLF, NPP and BNPA were absent.
- A total of 174 (51%) Members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 46 (14%) Members at the end of the sitting. Maximum presence of 234 Members (69%) was observed at one point of the sitting.
- As many as nine out of 10 minority Members were present during the 11thsitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- There were two Calling Attention Notices (CANs) on the Orders of the Day. The House did not take up any of the CANs
- The first CAN was regarding “proposed change in the Zoning Regulations in respect of Zone-III, Islamabad by the CDA to favor land holders and politicians” which was directed to the Cabinet Secretariat. The CAN was moved by three Members of the PML and one Member each of the PMLN and PPPS.
- The second CAN on the Orders of the Day was regarding “borrowing of 1.5 billion rupees daily from the State Bank of Pakistan by the Government” which was directed to the Ministry of Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Planning and Development. This CAN was moved by three Members of the MQM and one Member belonging to the PML.
- The Question Hour was not held during today’s sitting.
Output
- There was two bill [The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2008] and [The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2010] on the Orders of the Day, which were not taken up by the National Assembly.
Order and institutionalization
- A total of 16 Points of Order were raised, consuming 95 minutes (95%) of the sitting. However, none of the Points of Orders raised by Members attracted Speaker’s ruling.
- There was one admitted Adjournment Motion on the Orders of the Day regarding the “increase in the prices of electricity and LPG”, which was not debated upon during the course of the sitting.
- There was one Motion Under Rule 259 on the Orders of the Day, regarding “the situation arising out of recent increase in the prices of petroleum products” which was not taken up by the House.
- There were no instances of protests, boycotts and walkouts during the course of the entire sitting
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN