ISLAMABAD, December 26, 2014: Starting 47 minutes behind schedule, the 12th sitting of the 11th session of Punjab Assembly was adjourned due to lack of quorum after meeting for two hours and 11 minutes on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.
PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1109 hours and the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. The Chair ordered for the count twice but quorum was found incomplete following which the sitting was adjourned to meet again on Monday.
The House continued to witness low attendance as only 2% (6) of the legislators were present at the start and 15% (57) at the adjournment of the sitting.
The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
Following are some key observations of the proceedings:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:
- The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 11 minutes.
- The sitting started at 0947 hours against the scheduled time of 0900 hours witnessing a delay of 47 minutes.
- Six members (6%) were present at the outset and 57 (15%) at the adjournment of the sitting
- The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Only the parliamentary leader of JI attended the sitting.
- None of the eight minority member was present.
- None of the member applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Eight out of 34 starred questions appearing on the agenda were answered by the relevant department while 18 supplementary questions were also asked.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised five points of order that consumed three minutes of the proceedings’ time.
- PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1109 hours and the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. The Chair ordered for the count twice but quorum was found incomplete following which the sitting was adjourned.
- No instance of protest, walkout or boycott was witnessed during the sitting.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the 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.