ISLAMABAD, October 11, 2017: The Senate, on Wednesday, adopted an opposition’s motion against holding a political party’s office by an erstwhile disqualified Member of Parliament, observes the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily Factsheet.
Later, the session was prorogued after transacting the entire agenda.
Following are key observations of the proceedings of second and last sitting of the 268th session:
Members’ Participation
- The Senate met for two hours and 25 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1436 hours against the scheduled time of 1430 hours.
- The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was also present.
- The Leader of the House attended the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition remained in the House for an hour and 54 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML-N, MQM, PTI, NP and PkMAP attended the sitting.
- Sixteen (15% of the total membership) lawmakers were present at the outset and 14 (13%) at the end of the sitting.
- All four minority Senators attended the sitting.
Output
- Chairman Committee on Delegated Legislation presented the fourth, fifth and sixth quarterly reports of the Committee for the period from January to September, 2017.
- Chairman Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication presented the report of the Committee on the budgetary allocation and its utilization by Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication and its attached organizations.
- Chairman, Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented the reports of the Committee on the Public Interest Disclosures Bill, 2017 and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Article 228).
- Chairman, Standing Committee on Interior presented the reports of the Committee on the Islamabad Capital Territory Shops, Business and Industrial Establishments (Security) (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Islamabad Restriction on Employment of Children Bill, 2017.
- The House granted 10-day extension to the Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Industry for presentation of its report on the Marine Insurance Bill, 2017.
- The House granted 30-day extension for presentation of the concerned committee’s reports on two different bills with title the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Article 63A), the Miscarriage of Justice (Compensation) Bill, 2017, the Prevention of Witchcraft Bill, 2017, the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Criminal Laws (Amendment) (Protection of Rights of Transgender Persons) Bill, 2017, the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Islamabad Gun and Country Club (Administration and Management) Bill, 2017, the Islamabad Club Administration and Management Bill, 2017, the Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Bill, 2017, the National Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Privilege Motion No. 01(257)/2016-M.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House dropped the Motions under Rule 218 to discuss the issues related to census, water crisis, appointment of Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology and incidents of enforced disappearances.
- The House adopted a substantive motion under Rule 218(2) resolving that a person who is not eligible to be elected as Member of the Parliament on ground of disqualification should not become an office-bearer of any political party.
- As many as 24 lawmakers raised Matters of Public Importance consuming an hour and 24 minutes of the proceedings. The Minister for Law and Justice responded to two of these matters consuming seven minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers did not raise any Point of Order.
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