ISLAMABAD, March 12, 2018: The Punjab Assembly was adjourned on Monday without holding Pre-Budget discussion due to lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 25th sitting of the 34th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 15 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1447 hours against the scheduled time 1400 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Leader of the House (Chief Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 23 minutes.
- As many as 10 MPAs (3%) were present at outset and 14 (4%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- None of the parliamentary leaders were present during the proceedings.
- As many as three minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- The Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented its report on the Code of Civil Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018.
- The House granted two-month extension to the Public Accounts Committee-I and the Standing Committee on Transport for presentation of their reports.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as seven one out of 14 Starred Questions was answered during the proceedings while the seven questions were disposed of due to absence of the concerned lawmakers. The lawmakers asked 15 supplementary questions as well.
- The House deferred two Calling Attention Notices on the request of the government.
- The House did not hold the Pre-Budget Discussion due to lack of quorum.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised 13 Point of Order consuming 18 minutes of the proceedings.
- An independent lawmaker identified the quorum at 1556 hours that led to the adjournment of the proceedings.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 1000 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- 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.