ISLAMABAD, September 19, 2018: The Senate took up its entire agenda except the discussion on supplementary finance bill amidst lack of quorum, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings during the second sitting of 282nd session:
Members’ Participation
- The Senate met for an hour and 49 minutes.
- The sitting started nine minutes behind the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman did not attend the sitting.
- A member of Panel of Presiding Officers chaired the entire proceedings.
- The Leader of the House attended the sitting for an hour and 32 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition was not present.
- The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JI, MQM, PkMAP, PPPP, ANP and BNP-M attended the sitting.
- As many as 16 members (15% of the total membership – 104) were present at the outset and 18 (17%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- Only one out of four minority lawmakers attended the sitting.
Output
- On behalf of Chairman Functional Committee on Human Rights, a member of the committee presented its report on a point of public importance regarding missing persons in Sindh and other areas of the country.
- Chairman, Standing Committee on Interior presented third monitoring and inquiry report of the committee on General Elections, 2018. As many as 12 lawmakers debated the subject of the report for an hour and ten minutes.
- Minister of State for Revenue introduced the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2018 on behalf of the Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication. The chair referred the bill to the relevant standing committee.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding forcible acquisition of land in suburbs of Islamabad. The notice was originally addressed to Minister of State for Interior but he was not present to respond to it.
- The Chair referred a CAN on visa problems being faced by the Pakistanis in Kuwait to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrawing it from the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources.
- The House adopted a motion dispensing with the requirements of Rule 183 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate to empower the Committee on Delegated Legislation to constitute more than one sub-committee.
- The House did not consider a motion seeking the House’s recommendations on the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Order and Institutionalization
- A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1222 hours following which the Chair ordered to ring the bells for five minutes. The quorum was still incomplete after the bells that led to the adjournment of the sitting till September 24, 2018 at 1500 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