ISLAMABAD, April 11, 2016: The Punjab Assembly continued pre-budget discussion on Monday during ninth sitting of its 20th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Punjab Assembly met for three hours and 12 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1524 hours against the scheduled time 1400 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 57 minutes while the Deputy Speaker presided over the rest of the sitting.
- The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- 10 MPAs (2%) were present at outset and 34 (9%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
- Three minority members were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The government orally replied to five out of 11 starred questions appearing on the agenda while four questions were disposed of and two were deferred. The lawmakers also asked 19 supplementary questions.
- The government responded to two Calling Attention Notices (CANs) while a CAN was deferred on request of the mover.
- A Privilege Motion moved by PML-N lawmaker was referred to the relevant committee.
- Thirteen lawmakers took part in Pre-Budget discussion that consumed 92 minutes of the proceeding.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker spoke on one point of order consuming a minute.
- A lawmaker belonging to PTI pointed out quorum at 1828 hours leading to adjournment of the sitting at 1836 hours after headcount.
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.