ISLAMABAD, Feb 8, 2012: Witnessing low attendance, the 17th sitting of the ongoing Senate session lasted two hours and 45 minutes on Wednesday. Only 14 Senators were present when the proceedings began while 25 were there at the end of the sitting.
A total of 22 Points of Order were raised, which consumed 55% of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
The annual report of the National Economic Council for the financial year 2010-11 was presented.
Nine out of 17 starred questions listed for the Question Hour were responded by the relevant minister.
The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for two hours and 45 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1645 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started 45 minutes late.
- The Chairman chaired the sitting.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of the PMLN, MQM, PKMAP, JWP, ANP and the JI attended the sitting while those of the, BNPA, PPPS, NP, PMLF, and the PML were absent.
- Fourteen Senators were present at the start of the sitting while 25 were there when it was adjourned. A maximum of 32 Senators were present at one point of the sitting.
- Three Senators applied for leave to be absent.
- The House took a 31-minute break for the prayers.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House did not take up the Calling Attention Notice (CAN) which appeared on the Order of the Day.
- Out of the seventeen questions listed for the Question Hour, nine were put up and responded. Twelve supplementary questions were asked during the sitting.
Output
- The annual report of the National Economic Council for the financial year 2010-11 was presented in the House.
Order and Institutionalization
- Twenty-two Points of Order consumed 90 minutes (55%) of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- The entire House protested against the murder of the family members of a Member of Balochistan Assembly (Mir Bakhtiar Domki). The regular proceedings were disrupted for ten minutes.
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