121st Session of Senate TRANSPARENCY November 2 – 13, 2015 OF ATTENDANCE RECORD IMPROVES SENATORS’ PARTICIPATION 100 Senators attended The attendance of lawmakers did not deviate much away from the average 61 during ten at least one sitting during sittings. There were 63 lawmakers present during first sitting and 65 during last sitting of the 121st Session session. The highest attendance was recorded during seventh sitting when 74 lawmakers were The 121st Session of the Senate lasted 10 marked present followed by 67 members in sixth sittings. The session started on November 2 and sitting and 65 members each in eighth and tenth ended on November 13, 2015. It was the fourth sitting while third sitting least attended sitting session since the Upper House of the Parliament with 53 members coming to the proceeding. started to share the attendance record of its Table 1 provides comparative details of the members with general public. An unprecedented number of Senators attending the number of step towards transparency has already started to sitting for the three sessions. show improvement in the presence and participation of the Senators in proceeding of the Senators in Attendance 119th Session 120th Session 121st Session Upper House – a prerequisite for any vibrant At least One Sitting 87 85 100 legislature that is responding to public At least two Sittings 82 79 93 aspirations and needs. At least three Sittings 67 68 85 At least four Sittings 55 60 80 As many as 100 Senators attended at least one sitting during the 121st session as compared to At least five Sittings 34 50 69 85 in 120th and 87 and 119th. At the other end, At least Six Sittings - 33 61 At least Seven Sittings - 17 50 there were 13 senators who attended all sittings of 121st Session whereas 34 members had At least Eight Sittings - - 39 attended entire 119th Session and 17 lawmakers At least Nine Sittings - - 26 came to attend every sitting of 120th Session. All Ten Sittings - - 13 1 www.fafen.org Senate at a Glance 1 Leaves Patterns Over Sessions There are 13 political parties having representation (5), PML (4), NP & PkMAP (3 each) and BNP-A (2) in the Senate. PPPP holds the majority with 27 while BNP-M, JI and PML-F have one member The number of Senators documenting their leaves session and 29 in 121st Session. (See Graph 1 for seats followed by PML-N (26), Independent each in Senate. through a laid out procedure has considerably details) lawmakers (10), MQM (8), PTI (7), ANP (6), JUI-F increased - 16 in 119th Session, 19 in 120th Graph 1: Leave Patterns Over Sessions Composition of the Senate 17 15 General 14 12 13 13 Technocrat/Ulema 4 11 12 Women 4 11 10 Non-Muslims 1 9 10 Total Khyber 8 23 Pakhtunkhwa 7 General 8 6 6 7 6 Technocrat/Ulema - 5 Women - 3 ICT Non-Muslims - 2 Total 8 FATA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Leave 119th Leave 120th Leave 121st General 2 Technocrat/Ulema 1 Punjab Women 1 2 Absent Patterns Over Sessions Non-Muslims - Total 4 The absolute absence of Senators has also Senators remained absent throughout the 119th drastically come down with only one Senator Session and 14 throughout the 120th Session. remaining absent throughout the session. Thirteen (See Graph 2 for details) Balochistan General 14 Graph2: Absent Patterns Over Sessions Technocrat/Ulema 4 Women 4 44 Non-Muslims 1 36 44 41 41 Sindh Total 43 23 38 38 37 36 37 34 34 32 31 31 Pakistan 30 30 32 26 General 14 General 66 22 22 Technocrat/Ulema 4 General 14 Technocrat/Ulema 17 Technocrat/Ulema 4 Women 4 Women 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Non-Muslims 1 Women 4 Non-Muslims 4 Total Non-Muslims 1 Absent 119th Absent 120th Absent 121st 23 Total 104 Total 23 2 3 www.fafen.org www.fafen.org Senate at a Glance 1 Leaves Patterns Over Sessions There are 13 political parties having representation (5), PML (4), NP & PkMAP (3 each) and BNP-A (2) in the Senate. PPPP holds the majority with 27 while BNP-M, JI and PML-F have one member The number of Senators documenting their leaves session and 29 in 121st Session. (See Graph 1 for seats followed by PML-N (26), Independent each in Senate. through a laid out procedure has considerably details) lawmakers (10), MQM (8), PTI (7), ANP (6), JUI-F increased - 16 in 119th Session, 19 in 120th Graph 1: Leave Patterns Over Sessions Composition of the Senate 17 15 General 14 12 13 13 Technocrat/Ulema 4 11 12 Women 4 11 10 Non-Muslims 1 9 10 Total Khyber 8 23 Pakhtunkhwa 7 General 8 6 6 7 6 Technocrat/Ulema - 5 Women - 3 ICT Non-Muslims - 2 Total 8 FATA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Leave 119th Leave 120th Leave 121st General 2 Technocrat/Ulema 1 Punjab Women 1 2 Absent Patterns Over Sessions Non-Muslims - Total 4 The absolute absence of Senators has also Senators remained absent throughout the 119th drastically come down with only one Senator Session and 14 throughout the 120th Session. remaining absent throughout the session. Thirteen (See Graph 2 for details) Balochistan General 14 Graph2: Absent Patterns Over Sessions Technocrat/Ulema 4 Women 4 44 Non-Muslims 1 36 44 41 41 Sindh Total 43 23 38 38 37 36 37 34 34 32 31 31 Pakistan 30 30 32 26 General 14 General 66 22 22 Technocrat/Ulema 4 General 14 Technocrat/Ulema 17 Technocrat/Ulema 4 Women 4 Women 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Non-Muslims 1 Women 4 Non-Muslims 4 Total Non-Muslims 1 Absent 119th Absent 120th Absent 121st 23 Total 104 Total 23 2 3 www.fafen.org www.fafen.org Table 2: Does improvement of presence have any relationship with improvement of participation? 3 Presence Patterns Over Sessions Sessions Participating Member Non-Participating Member 119th 61 43 The absolute punctuality, however, has dropped in in 119th Session and 17 attending all seven 120th 62 42 121st Session to 13 Senators who attended all 10 sittings in 120th Session. (See Graph 3 for details) st sittings from 34 Senators attending all five sittings 121 84 20 Graph 3: Present patterns over sessions 5 Gender-wise Attendance 61 74 70 71 There are 19 female lawmakers and 85 male this number had remained constant at two. The 60 67 lawmakers in the Senate. Relative to their absenteeism of female lawmakers hit a low as only 63 63 65 65 62 60 respective strength in the House, the presence of four members remained absent on average during 57 58 54 56 54 both male and female lawmakers remained more each sitting of 121st session as compared to eight 61 53 49 56 than 50% during the entire session. and seven during 120th and 119th sessions respectively. 54 The attendance of female Senators has remained unchanged over last three sessions. On average, The average attendance of male Senators have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (58%) female members attended each sitting in been fluctuating over last three sessions. It was 121st session while ten women Senators had highest 64% during 119th session, fell to 54% Present 119th Present 120th Present 121st attended each sitting in 120th Session and eleven during 120th session and jumped back to 59% in in 119th Session. The number of women Senators 121st session. More details can be seen in above applying for leave of absence has increased. On graph. (For more on gender-wise comparison of Attendance Vs. Participation average, four females applied for leave during each attendance, see Graph 4) 4 sitting of 121st session. Over last two sessions, While the average duration of each sitting public (See Table2). Similarly, the number of Graph 4: Gender wise Attendance (Average) remained almost the same (refer to Table 1), the Senators taking part in the Senate proceeding has 54 performance of the Upper House appears to have also increased to 84 in 121st Session from 61 in 50 46 improved in addressing its agenda since the the 119th Session and 62 in 120th Session. attendance record of Senators has been made 31 29 Table 1: Does presence correspond to increase in the se ssion's time? 25 Sessions 119th Session 120th Session 121st Session 11 10 11 7 6 8 7 6 Number of Sitting 5 7 10 2 2 4 4 Total Session Time 16:58 25:24 34:27 Average Sitting Time 3:23 3:37 3:26 Absent Leave Present Absent Leave Present Absent Leave Present 119th 120th 121st Female Male 4 5 www.fafen.org www.fafen.org Table 2: Does improvement of presence have any relationship with improvement of participation? 3 Presence Patterns Over Sessions Sessions Participating Member Non-Participating Member 119th 61 43 The absolute punctuality, however, has dropped in in 119th Session and 17 attending all seven 120th 62 42 121st Session to 13 Senators who attended all 10 sittings in 120th Session. (See Graph 3 for details) st sittings from 34 Senators attending all five sittings 121 84 20 Graph 3: Present patterns over sessions 5 Gender-wise Attendance 61 74 70 71 There are 19 female lawmakers and 85 male this number had remained constant at two. The 60 67 lawmakers in the Senate. Relative to their absenteeism of female lawmakers hit a low as only 63 63 65 65 62 60 respective strength in the House, the presence of four members remained absent on average during 57 58 54 56 54 both male and female lawmakers remained more each sitting of 121st session as compared to eight 61 53 49 56 than 50% during the entire session.