ISLAMABAD: Senate of Pakistan ensured efficiency in executive oversight, contributed quality debates on the issues of national importance and set a precedent of punctuality along with impactful legislation during its 16th Parliamentary Year from March 12, 2018, to March 11, 2019.
According to the information shared by the Senate Secretariat regarding time duration and performance of the House during 16th Parliamentary year, a total of 13 Senate regular sessions (275 to 287) and two joint sittings were held. These sessions have a total of 111 working days comprising 78 sittings with a total of 203 hours and 10 minutes.
The maximum attendance of 103 out of total membership of 104 in the House was recorded on March 12, 2018, during the 275th session while minimum attendance of 25 lawmakers was recorded on July 20, 2018, during 280th session.
Throughout the year, the average attendance of lawmakers remained 64.46 per cent while average hours of sittings were two hours and 36 minutes. Along with, the House ensured punctuality during the year and sittings began with an average delay of less than one minute.
The legislation enacted during the 16th parliamentary year focused on strengthening the social contract between the legislators and the constituents.
The members of the Parliament continued to act as agents of people and ensured that their rights are protected by the executive.
Furthermore, the parliamentarians initiated a series of legislation aimed at not only addressing the lacunas in the existing legal framework but also introduced laws which were reflective of the evolving demographic and socioeconomic realities.
According to the Senate Secretariat, a total of 28 private members’ bills and 15 government bills were introduced in the Senate.
The House passed five government bills introduced in the Senate while five private members’ bills were also passed by the Senate after their introduction.
Moreover, the House witnessed the presentation of seven ordinances laid while six private Members’ Bills introduced in the Senate became Acts.
The House received seven government bills from the National Assembly during 2017-18 which were passed during the 16th parliamentary year while seven other bills received from the National Assembly during 2018-19 were also passed by Senate during the same year.
According to the website of Senate Secretariat, the 20 government bills passed by the House included the Supreme Court and High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction to Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Bill, 2018; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018; the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Bill, 2018; the Institute for Art and Culture Bill, 2018; the Institute of Science and Technology Bahawalpur Bill, 2018; the Sir Syed (Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering) Institute of Technology, Islamabad Bill, 2018; the Establishment of the Federal Bank for Cooperatives and Regulation of Cooperative Banking (Repeal) Bill, 2018; the House Building Finance Corporation (Repeal) Bill, 2018; the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2018; the Islamabad Healthcare Regulation Bill, 2018; the Health Services Academy (Restructuring) Bill, 2018; the Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017; the Juvenile Justice System Bill, 2018; the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Bill, 2018; the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2018; the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2018; the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2018; The West Pakistan Juvenile Smoking (Repeal) Bill, 2018; the West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses (Repeal) Bill, 2018 and the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
