ISLAMABAD, December 14, 2012: Starting 51 minutes late, the 3rd sitting of the ongoing 88th session continued to witness low attendance of Senators as only eleven Senators (11% of the total membership) were present at the start, while 21 (20%) were there when the sitting was adjourned.
Additionally, the parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML, PMLF, BNPA, NP, and JUIF did not attend the sitting.
The Quorum was visible lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.
Fifteen Points of Order consumed 42% of the sitting time. ANP legislators staged a walkout protesting against the continuous absence of KESC executive director for the Standing Committee on Water and Power. The committee has sent numerous notifications calling the KESC ED to committee hearing, but he failed to do so. They walked out of the House at 1206 hours and did not come to attend the remaining proceedings
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for an hour and 35 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1051 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1000 hours. The proceedings started late by 51 minutes.
- The Chairman chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- Only the parliamentary leader of ANP attended the sitting while those of MQM, PML, PMLF, BNPA, JUIF and NP remained absent.
- Only eleven Senators (11% of the total membership) were present at the start, while 21 (20%) were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum 32 Senators were present during a time of sitting.
- Three minority members were present.
- Two legislators applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Five of the 16 starred questions appearing on the agenda were asked and responded to by the relevant ministry. Additionally, five supplementary questions were asked.
- A Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about KESC’s tariff increase of 18 paisas per unit for the month of June by NEPRA was taken up by the Upper House.
Output
- A Standing Committee report about the question of privilege was presented before the House.
Order and Institutionalization
- Fifteen Points of Order were raised which consumed 40 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- ANP legislators staged a walkout protesting against the continuous absence of KESC executive director for the Standing Committee on Water and Power. The committee has sent numerous notifications calling the KESE ED to committee hearing, but he failed to do so. They walked out of the House at 1206 hours and did not come to attend the remaining proceedings.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
- The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the legislators.
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