Overview of 327th Session of the Senate

During 327th session, the Senate passed 13 bills. Out of these, 1 government bill and 4 private members’ bills originated in the Senate while 7 government bills and 1 private members’ bill were transmitted by the National Assembly.

Government Bills (0riginated in the Senate) passed during 327th session

Private Members’ Bills (originated in the Senate) passed during 327th session

Government bills (transmitted by the National Assembly) passed during 327th session

Private Members’ bills (transmitted by the National Assembly) passed during 327th session

One (1) Government bill and six (6) Private Members’ bills were introduced during the session and all of them were referred to the concerned committees.

No ordinance was laid or extended during the session.

Time consumed on discussion of Policy issues during 327th session

The quality of the time used during the session can be gauged by analyzing the time consumed on discussing key issues of democratic governance. During 327th session of the Senate, total time consumed for discussion on policy issues spanned over 3 hours and 27 minutes. The maximum time consumed in discussing policy issues was on a bill ‘The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 (Act No. XVII of 2023)’ for 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Another way to look at it is that during the 327th session, out of 13 bills passed and 7 bills introduced, only The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 (Act No. XVII of 2023) was discussed for an hour and 7 minutes. Unfortunately, all other bills were only introduced or passed almost instantly during the session without any debate or discussion on the merits and demerits of these bills. The House was used just for passing the bills ignoring the quality, credibility, importance and requirement of these bills. This shows the House was not used for the purpose it was created for – to give voice to the people and represent them on all policy actions of the State. Most of the time of the House was used in the discussion of non-policy issues or mere criticism on rival parties or previous governments.

It must be noted that PILDAT has classified that a policy issue is such that involves any recommendation on devising a policy. Any discussion on an issue that does not go beyond mere criticism or highlighting a concern does not fall into policy issue and is treated as discussion or time spent on non-policy issues.