- Discusses Issuance of NOC to Former Army Chief
ISLAMABAD, April 11, 2017: The Senate on Tuesday took up the entire regular agenda appearing on the Orders of the Day and discussed the issuance of No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to the former Army Chief to join Saudi-led multi-nation Islamic Military Alliance, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during second sitting of the 261st session:
Members’ Participation
- The Senate met for three hours and 20 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1505 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
- The Chairman presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Chairman was also present.
- Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
- Leader of the House attended the sitting for an hour and 40 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition was absent from the proceedings.
- Parliamentary leaders of MQM, PML, PkMAP, PPPP, BNP-M and JI attended the entire proceedings.
- Twenty-three (22% of the total membership – 104) lawmakers were present at the start and 21 (20%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- Three minority legislators attended the proceedings.
Output
- Chairman Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented report on the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
- The Second Quarterly Report of the Central Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan on the state of Pakistan’s Economy for the year 2016-2017 was also presented in the House.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Two lawmakers spoke for 15 minutes on the issuance of NOC to former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to assume the command of Saudi-led military alliance of 39 Muslim States. Minister for Defence spoke on the issue for 20 minutes that appeared on the agenda as an Adjournment Motion (AM) and a Calling Attention Notice (CAN). Both these agenda items were clubbed together for discussion.
- Another AM regarding terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan was not admitted as the House had already discussed the issue earlier.
- The Chair admitted another AM for discussion on April 18, 2017 regarding the price hike of various food items.
- Another CAN on a government housing scheme in Islamabad was taken up and responded to by the relevant minister.
- State Minister for Interior responded to a Point of Public Importance regarding clash between two student groups at the University of Punjab, Lahore.
- Eleven out of 46 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda were taken up. In addition, lawmakers also asked 34 Supplementary Questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- Seven Points of Public Importance were discussed for 25 minutes.
- Two Points of Order consumed six minutes of the proceedings.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers is available on the website.
This daily factsheet is based on the direct observation of Senate proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted