ISLAMABAD, October 23, 2018: The Provincial Assembly of Punjab passed a resolution on Tuesday against a controversial statement by PML-N leader Nihal Hashmi about military’s role in national development, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fourth sitting of the third (budget) session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for two hours and seven minutes.
- The sitting started at 1256 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 27 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- The Finance Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 44 minutes.
- As many as 103 MPAs (28%) were present at outset and 71 (19%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leader of Rah-e-Haq Party attended the sitting.
- Only one out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- Moved by the Minister of Public Prosecution, the House unanimously adopted a supplementary resolution condemning PML-N leader Nehal Hashmi’s statement criticizing the role of military in the country’s development.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as 13 lawmakers participated in the budget discussion that continued for an hour and 14 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as four lawmakers spoke on Points of Order consuming seven minutes of the proceedings.
- A lawmaker belonging to PML-N pointed out the lack of quorum at 1439 hours, which was completed after ringing the Assembly bells for five minutes.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on October 24, 2018 (Wednesday) at 1100 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
- 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.