ISLAMABAD, August 3, 2012: The debate on the law and order in Balochistan was wrapped up in the sixth and the last sitting of Senate’s 84th session, which met for two hours and 54 minutes on Friday. The Interior Minister spoke on the Motion for two hours and 14 minutes.
Commencing 40 minutes late, the Upper House witnessed low attendance of Senators. Only six Senators were present at the start and 22 were there at the end of the sitting. The parliamentary leaders of the ANP, NP and JUIF attended the sitting. The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
Eleven Points of Order consumed 40 minutes of the sitting time.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- Senate met for two hours and 54 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1440 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1400 hours. The proceedings started 40 minutes late.
- The Deputy Chairman chaired the sitting. The Chairman was not present.
- The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of the NP, ANP and JUIF attended the sitting.
- Six Senators (6% of total Membership) were present at the start, while 22 (21%) were present when the sitting was adjourned.
- Two Minority Members was present during the sitting.
- Seven Senators applied for leave to be absent.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Winding up the debate on the law and order in Balochsitan, the Minister for Interior spoke on the Motion for two hours and 14 minutes.
Output
- No bills appeared n the Orders of the Day.
Order and Institutionalization
- Eleven Points of Order consumed 40 minutes of the sitting time. None of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
- There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to Legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ 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