ISLAMABAD, August 30, 2017: The Senate adopted a report of the Committee of the Whole regarding preparation of policy guidelines in light of US President’s Afghan-South Asia policy statement during last sitting of the 266th session on Wednesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings of seventh sitting:
Members’ Participation
- The Senate met for two hours and 13 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was not present.
- The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the House attended the sitting for an hour and 43 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 25 minutes.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PPPP and PML attended the sitting.
- Eighteen members (17% of the total membership) were present at the outset and 14 (13%) at the time of adjournment of the sitting.
- One minority Senator attended the sitting.
Output
- The Leader of the House presented the report of the Committee of the Whole regarding the preparation of policy guidelines in the light of emerging regional realities and the role of United States, containing initial response to the US President’s Afghan-South Asia Policy statement. The House adopted the report and 10 Senators debated it for 24 minutes.
- The House adopted a motion referring the Domestic Workers (Employment Rights) Bill, 2016 to the Joint Sitting of both Houses of the Parliament as it was not passed by the National Assembly within 90 days after its transmission to the Assembly by the Senate.
- Another motion to refer the Islamabad Compulsory Vaccination and Protection of Health Workers Bill, 2015 to the Joint Sitting was deferred.
- The House approved the amendments to the Rule 98, Rule 100 and Rule 203 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012.
- The House was informed that the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Section 323) and the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Sections 273, 274 & 275) were not passed by the National Assembly within 90 days of the transmission to the Assembly by the Senate.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up a Calling Attention Notice regarding high level of arsenic in the ground water of Pakistan.
- As many as 15 out of 35 Starred Questions were taken up during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked 19 supplementary questions as well.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as 10 lawmakers spoke on Points of Public Importance consuming 21 minutes of the proceedings.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers is available on the website.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted