- Session Prorogued
ISLAMABAD, June 4, 2021: The Punjab Assembly passed six government bills amid opposition’s protest against hasty legislation and referred two bills to relevant committees, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Friday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the eighth and last sitting of the 32nd session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for 54 minutes.
- The sitting started at 11:13 am against the scheduled time of 09:00 am.
- The speaker and the deputy speaker were absent.
- A member of panel of chairmen presided over the entire sitting.
- The leader of the House (chief minister) and the opposition leader did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 28 MPAs (eight percent) were present at the outset and 67 (18 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- None of the parliamentary leader attended the sitting.
- One out of eight minority lawmakers was present.
Output
- Moved by the Minister for Law, the House passed six government bills after suspension of rules. These bills were the Companies Profits (Workers’ Participation) (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission Bill, 2020; the Punjab Apprenticeship Bill, 2021; the Sugar Factories (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Punjab Educational Institutions (Reconstitution) Bill, 2021 and the University of Child Health Sciences, Lahore Bill 2021.
- The House witnessed introduction of two government bills including the Punjab Home-Based Workers Bill, 2021 and the Punjab Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2021. These bills, moved by Minister for Law, were referred to the relevant committees for consideration.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up one out of 21 starred questions related to Irrigation department. Besides, the lawmakers asked three supplementary questions.
- Eight zero hour notices on the agenda were not considered.
Order and Institutionalization
- Nine lawmakers spoke on points of order for 20 minutes related to upcoming budget, media issues and hasty legislation.
- Lawmakers belonging to PML-N walked out of the House for five minutes when the Chair did not allow one of their colleague to speak on points of order.
- A PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 11:49 am but the Chair ignored it due to decision made in business advisory committee regarding presence of limited lawmakers in the House in wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
- The opposition lawmakers protested during the proceedings for 17 minutes against immediate consideration of the government bills.
- The Session was prorogued sine die.
Transparency
- ‘List of Business’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
- Information on Members’ attendance is available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by SANGAT Development Foundation, a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted