ISLAMABAD, April 8, 2016: The Provincial Assembly of Punjab continued pre-budget discussion during the 8th sitting of its ongoing 20th session on Friday that consumed 48% (67 minutes) of the sitting time, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceeding
- The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 21 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1004 hours against the scheduled time of 9 AM.
- The Speaker was absent.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the House was not present while the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 45 minutes.
- Twelve lawmakers (3%) were present at the start and 17 (5%) at the end of the sitting.
- No Parliamentary Leader was present.
- Two minority members attended the sitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Eleven lawmakers – PML-N (08), PTI (2), and PML (1) – participated in pre-budget discussion for 67 minutes.
- Six of the 12 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up. In addition, lawmakers asked 13 supplementary questions.
- Three adjournment motions were kept pending due to non-submission of their replies.
Order and Institutionalization
- Four Points of Order consumed as many minutes of the sitting.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
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.