The Punjab Assembly (PA) witnessed a walkout and suspension of proceedings due to the absence of provincial ministers on Wednesday.
The sitting started 32 minutes behind the schedule with 13 (4%) members present at the start and 72 (19%) at the time of adjournment. The chief minister did not attend the sitting, while Opposition Leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed was present for40 minutes, 32% of proceedings’ time.
The House did not take up the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and the University of Okara Bill 2015 due to the law minister’s absence. The same legislations were left unaddressed due to incomplete quorum earlier on Monday.
The assembly met for two hours and five minutes. The sitting started at 10:32 am, which was suspended for 17 minutes to ensure ministers’ presence.
Thirteen members (4%) were present at the start of the sitting. A maximum of 72 lawmakers (19%) were present at the time of adjournment. The sitting was entirely chaired by the deputy speaker. The parliamentary leaders of Jamat-e-Islami and Pakistan Peoples’ Party attended the sitting, while two out of eight minority members were present.
No member had applied for a leave yet they were not present during the proceedings.
As many as 13 out of 27 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up as the lawmakers raised another 35 supplementary questions on the floor of the House. The House also took up three adjournment motions on land occupation in Sargodha, corruption in Punjab Arts Council and review of health policy to curb kidney and liver diseases in the province.
The lawmakers raised three points of order that consumed two minutes of the sitting. The sitting witnessed a five-minute protest by the entire opposition against the absence of provincial ministers.
