ISLAMABAD, January 24, 2019: The Senate started discussion on the Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Thursday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fourth sitting of the 286th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for three hours and 53 minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 45 minutes due to prayers break and lack of quorum.
- The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Chairman presided over the entire sitting.
- The Deputy Chairman was also present.
- The Leader of House attended the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 58 minutes.
- The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 14 lawmakers (13%) were present at the outset and 16 (15%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, PTI, JUI-F, BNP-M, MQM, ANP and JI attended the sitting.
- As many as two out of four minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- Chairperson, Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training presented the reports of the committee on three the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Trained Paramedical Staff Facility Bill, 2018.
- The House granted 30-day extension to the standing Committee on Law and Justice for presentation of its report on the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as six lawmakers participated in the debate on the Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 consuming 59 minutes. The Minister of State for Revenue spoke on the bill for two minutes.
- The Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about reducing the size of Public Sector Development Programs (PSDP) from Rs. 950 billion to Rs. 675 billion for Balochistan. The CAN was sponsored by an NP lawmaker.
- The House deferred a CAN about missing revenue targets.
- As many as 18 lawmakers spoke on points of public importance consuming an hour and four minutes of the proceedings.
Order and Institutionalization
- As many as four lawmakers spoke on Points of Order (POs) consuming 21 minutes of the proceedings. They highlighted the issues concerning the absence of the Minister for Finance during the debate on the Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019.
- The opposition lawmakers walked out from the proceedings at 1520 hours against absence of the Minister for Finance. They returned to the House at 1600 hours.
- A NP lawmaker pointed out the lack of quorum at 1522 hours that led to the headcount and ringing of the bells for five minutes followed by the suspension of the proceedings for 30 minutes.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on January 25, 2019 (Friday) at 1030 hours.
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