ISLAMABAD, October 24, 2016: The Punjab Assembly passed three government bills, including the one that puts restrictions on employment of children and adolescents, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Monday.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during seventh and last sitting of 24th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and six minutes.
- The proceedings remained suspended for 21 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1620 hours against the scheduled time 1500 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition was present for 31 minutes.
- Twenty-eight lawmakers (7%) were present at outset and 62 (16%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JI and PML-Z were present.
- Four minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- The House passed the Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 (Bill No. 39 of 2016), the Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 (Bill No. 31 of 2016) and the Punjab Restriction on Employment of Children Bill 2016.
- The House also referred the Punjab Halal Development Agency Bill 2016 to relevant standing committee on its introduction.
- The Standing Committee on Local Government and Community Development presented its report on Bill No. 44 of 2016 while the House granted extension to three committees for presentation of their reports.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as nine out of 27 Starred Questions were responded to during the Question Hour while 21 supplementary questions were also asked by lawmakers. Moreover, five Starred Questions were disposed of due to the absence of movers while one was deferred.
- The House deferred three Calling Attention Notices appearing on Orders of the Day.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on five Points of Order consuming as many minutes of the proceedings.
- Opposition parties protested on floor of the House for 17 minutes against the arrest of PTI workers ahead of November 2 protest in Islamabad.
- An independent lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1801 hours but it was found complete on headcount.
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.