ISLAMABAD, October 11, 2012: Starting 41 minutes late, the fourth sitting of ongoing 86th session on Thursday witnessed low attendance of Senators. At the start of the sitting only three Senators were present and 18 were there when it was adjourned.
Ten Points of Order consumed 30 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
A PPPP Senator staged a 15-minute protest as he was not allowed to speak on the judiciary.
The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the Standing Committee.
Only five out of 30 questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, nine Supplementary Questions were asked.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Senate met for two hours and 21 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1641 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours. The proceedings started late by 41 minutes.
- The Chairman chaired the sitting for an hour and 10 minutes while the remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Chairman.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition were present during the entire sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PMLF, JUIF and ANP attended the sitting.
- Only three Senators (3% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 18 (18%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
- Two Minority Senators were present during the sitting.
- Nine Senators applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- A Calling Attention Notice about tax imposed on incoming overseas telephone calls by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was taken up by the House.
- Only five out of 30 questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, nine supplementary questions were also asked.
Output
- The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 was introduced and sent to the Standing Committee.
Order and Institutionalization
- Ten Points of Order consumed 30 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- A PPPP Senator staged a 15-minute protest as he was not allowed to speak on the judiciary.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Senators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN