ISLAMABAD, April 14, 2016: The Punjab Assembly passed six government bills on Thursday during 12th sitting of its 20th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
The House witnessed low attendance as 20 MPAs (5%) were present at outset and 42 (11%) at adjournment of the sitting
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 19 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1112 hours against the scheduled time 1000 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 140 minutes while rest of the proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Chief Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 77 minutes.
- 20 MPAs (5%) were present at outset and 42 (11%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- None of the Parliamentary leader in the House attended the sitting.
- Three minority members were present.
Output
- Moved by Provincial Minister for Law, the House passed six bills including the Punjab Forest (Amendment) Bill 2016; the Punjab Flood Plain Regulation Bill 2015; the Punjab Vigilance Committees Bill 2016; the Punjab Marriage Functions Bill 2015; the Punjab Economic Research Institute (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill 2015.
- The House also witnessed introduction of the Punjab Agriculture, Food and Drug Authority Bill 2016.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The government orally replied to six out of 16 starred questions appearing on the agenda. In addition, the lawmakers also asked 11 supplementary questions.
- The House did not consider three adjournment motions (AMs) while an AM was referred to the relevant committee.
- A Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about law and order was taken up while two other notices on the same subject were not considered by the House.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on five points of order consuming four minutes of the proceeding.
- A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1302 hours following which the Chair ordered the bells to be rung for five minutes. The sitting resumed at 1309 hours after completion of quorum.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
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.