Senate Leaves Half of the Agenda Unaddressed, Discusses Peshawar Incident

• Session Prorogued

ISLAMABAD, October 29, 2020: The Senate on Thursday discussed the recent bomb attack on a religious school in Peshawar while leaving half of the day’s agenda unaddressed, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in the Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 7^th sitting of the 304^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The Senate met for four hours.
• The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Deputy Chairman presided over the entire proceedings in the absence of the Chairman.
• The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for three hours and two minutes.
• As many as 19 lawmakers (18%) were present at the outset and 18 (17%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of JI, PPPP, PTI, ANP, PML-N, JUI-F-F, PkMAP, MQM and NP attended the sitting.
• Two minority lawmakers were also present.

Output

• Minister for Information and Broadcasting responded to a Calling Attention Notice related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority Ordinance, 2019.
• The House did not consider five reports of various standing committees, two motions under Rule 194 (1), one Calling Attention Notice and an adjournment motion.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up eight out of 17 starred questions while the lawmakers asked 15 supplementary questions as well.
• The House passed five motions under Rule 194 (1) granting 30-day extension to four standing committees for presentation of reports on the matters raised in the House through various parliamentary interventions.
• Eight lawmakers discussed the recent attack on a religious school in Peshawar consuming an hour and 47 minutes of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

• An MQM lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1425 hours that was found incomplete upon counting. Subsequently, the Chair announced to adjourn the session for an indefinite period.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and general public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to media and observers.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted