ISLAMABAD, October 24, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Punjab concluded the general discussion on annual budget for the year 2018-2019, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fifth sitting of the third (budget) session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for an hour and 24 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1318 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Chief Minister attended the sitting for 16 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- The Finance Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 14 minutes.
- As many as 64 MPAs (17%) were present at outset and 105 (28%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leader of Rah-e-Haq Party attended the sitting.
- As many as two out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- The House approved constituting a 12-member Special Committee to assess the losses incurred to exchequer due to closure of development projects initiated by the government before 2008. The House has not yet constituted the standing committees which are due to be elected within ninety days after the election of the Leader of the House.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as nine lawmakers participated in the budget discussion that continued for 49 minutes. Minister for Finance concluded the discussion and spoke for seven minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers belonging to PML-N continued their boycott of the House proceedings.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on October 25, 2018 (Thursday) at 1100 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
- Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
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 regretted.