ISLAMABAD, March 11, 2019: The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab initiated the pre-budget discussion on Monday with six lawmakers taking part in it, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during 14th sitting of the seventh session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for three hours and 16 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1641 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for three hours while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Leader of the House did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 32 minutes.
- As many as 80 MPAs (22%) were present at the outset and 60 (16%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP and PRHP attended the proceedings.
- As many as four out of eight minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- The Minister for Law introduced the Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority Bill, 2019 in the House which was referred to the relevant standing committee with directions to present report its in two months.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development responded to three out of seven Starred Questions while four questions were disposed of due to absence of the movers. The lawmakers asked nine supplementary questions as well.
- The House deferred two Adjournment Motions (AMs) due to unavailability of the relevant ministers. These AMs were sponsored by lawmakers belonging to PML-N and PTI and sought discussion on the issues concerning the departments of Irrigation and Primary & Secondary Health Care.
- The Minister for Law responded to two Call Attention Notices (CANs) appearing on the agenda regarding an incident of robbery in Lahore and a murder in Gujranwala. These CANs were sponsored by lawmakers belonging to PTI and PML-N.
- The Minister for Finance initiated the pre-budget discussion. As many as six lawmakers participated in the debate consuming an hour and 20 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as 18 lawmakers spoke on Points of Order for 23 minutes.
- The lawmakers belonging to treasury and opposition protested for two minutes during pre-budget discussion.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on March 12, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1100 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available on Punjab Assembly’s website.
- 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.