ISLAMABAD, June 5, 2017: The Punjab Assembly inaugurated the general discussion on the annual budget 2017-18 on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during second sitting of 30thsession:
Members’ Participation
- The Punjab Assembly met for four hours and three minutes.
- The sitting started at 1202 hours against the scheduled time 1100 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Speaker was not present.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 58 minutes.
- As many as 23 MPAs (6%) were present at outset and 15 (4%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP and PML-Z attended the sitting.
- Six minority members were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Leader of the Opposition initiated the general discussion on the budget 2017-18 and spoke for two hours and 40 minutes. Three PML-N legislators and a PPPP lawmaker also participated in the discussion consuming an hour and 30 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on five Points of Order consuming ten minutes of the proceedings.
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.