Last Senate session remained pathetic

ISLAMABAD: The most pathetic part of the just concluded Senate session was that its attendance remained the lowest ever with an average of 19 percent Senators present at the start and 17 percent at the end of each sitting and the session did not take up half of main parliamentary business.

Each sitting lasted two hours and 40 minutes on average which is too dismal in light of world parliamentary practices. The best parliamentary practice requires that head of government gets engaged in parliamentary interventions on a regular basis. Sub-rule (2A) of Rule 61 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate also states that the chief executive shall attend the Prime Minister's Zero Hour (last hour of sitting) at least once a week when the Senate is in session

The opposition members boycotted the latter part of first six sittings over the absence of Prime Minister from the House. They came to attend these sittings but later announced to boycott the proceedings. Overall, their boycott spanned for more than seven hours (422 minutes, 29 percent of the session time) while one walkout of 28 minutes was also witnessed on the same issue.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani also demurred in the last sitting when he felt ignored in consultation on motion moved for constituting 12-member parliamentary committee for drafting Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the commission to investigate PanamLeaks.

According to Al-Jihad Trust case, it is necessary to consult with the Senate chairman before moving it in the Upper House if the NA takes up a motion regarding corruption. Otherwise the chairman is highly committed to the House proceedings as he attended all the nine sittings and presided over 98 percent of the session's time while one percent of the time was presided over by the member of panel of chairpersons while the remaining one percent was consumed in break due to suspension of proceedings. The deputy chairman attended one sitting only.

Owing to the opposition parliamentary group’s showdown on PanamaLeaks both Leader of the House Raja Zafaru Haq and Leader of the Opposition Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan remained present in all nine sittings and attended 98 percent of the session's time, while the opposition leader also remained present in nine sittings and attended 43 percent of the session's time.