ISLAMABAD, December 19, 2014: Starting 54 minutes behind schedule, the eighth sitting of the Punjab Assembly’s 11th session witnessed a debate on the deadly school attack in Peshawar on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.
The sitting witnessed low attendance with 22 members (6%) present at the outset and 31 (8%) at the adjournment.
The Provincial Minister for Food tabled a motion to suspend the regular agenda in order to debate children’s massacre in Peshawar which was passed unanimously. Eleven lawmakers – seven from PML-N, two from PML, one belonging to PPPP and one independent lawmaker – participated in the debate for 57 minutes.
The Speaker chaired the entire sitting, while the Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Punjab Assembly met for an hour and 12 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1554 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours, witnessing a delay of 54 minutes.
- Twenty-two members (6%) were present at the outset and 31 (8%) at the sitting’s adjournment. A maximum of 48 members (13%) were seen at one point of the sitting.
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader were absent.
- The parliamentary leader of PPPP attended the sitting.
- One minority member was present.
- No member applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Eleven lawmakers – seven from PML-N, two from PML, one belonging to PPPP and one independent lawmaker – participated in the debate on the massacre in Peshawar for 57 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- No point of order was raised in the entire sitting.
- No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was unavailable to the observers and public.
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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN