329th Session of the Senate Concluded with a Single Sitting

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329th Session of the Senate Concluded with a Single Sitting

Highlights

  1. The Senate met for 1 hour and 42 minutes in 1 Sitting

  2. Three (3) bills passed by the Senate in 329th Session

Working Hours

The sole sitting in the 329th session of the Senate was held on May 05, 2023 and lasted for 01 hour 42 minutes.

Agenda Items Left Over

No agenda items were left over during 329th Session of the Senate.

Quorum

Quorum was not pointed out during 329th Session of the Senate.

Attendance

Both Senator Dr. Shahzad Waseem, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Punjab, PTI) and Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Leader of the House (Punjab, PML-N) attended the single sitting. 63 Senators were recorded as present during the 329th session.

Top 5 Vocal Senators

Senator Dr. Shahzad Waseem, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Punjab, PTI) was the most vocal Senator during the 329th session with a recorded talk time of 16 minutes. He was followed by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed (KP, JIP) who spoke for 12 minutes. Senator Shahadat Awan (Sindh, PPPP) spoke for 11 minutes. Senator Mohsin Aziz (KP, PTI) spoke for 09 minutes. Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar (Punjab, PML-N) Federal Minister for Law and Justice, spoke for 08 minutes during the session.

Legislation

The Senate of Pakistan passed 3 bills. Out of these, 2 government bills and 1 private members’ bill had originated in the Senate.

The Kalam Bibi International Women Institute, Bannu Act, 2023 was introduced to establish the Women Institute University of Bannu in the public interest to upgrade Women Campus University of Bannu to a full-fledged International Women Institute. This bill was assented by the President on June 07, 2023 thus taking 2 months to become an Act of Parliament.[1]

The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB Amendment) Act, 2023 aimed to deal with all power generation technologies. Main objectives for creation of the PPIB was to create a body which would act as One-Window facilitator on behalf of Government of Pakistan (GoP) its Ministries/ Departments and execute Implementation Agreement (IA) and provide GoP guarantees on behalf of President of Pakistan. This bill was assented by the President on May 31, 2023 thus taking 2 months to become an Act of Parliament.[2]

The Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act, 2023 was introduced to facilitate and strengthen the Supreme Court by enhancing its powers to review judgments and orders. The proposed changes stated that the review scope, concerning both facts and law for Supreme Court judgments and orders under Article 184, will mirror that of an appeal governed by Article 185. Additionally, it stated that the right to file a review petition shall also be available to an aggrieved person against whom an order has been made under Clause (3) of Article 184 of the Constitution prior to the commencement of this Act, provided that the review petition under this section shall be filed within 60 days of the commencement of the Act. This bill was assented by the President on May 26, 2023 thus taking almost 1.5 months to become an Act of Parliament.[3]

Table 1: Government Bills (0riginated in the National Assembly) passed during 329th session

Table 2: Private Members’ Bills (originated in the National Assembly) passed during 329th Session

Time consumed on discussion of Policy issues during 329th session

During the 329th Session of the Senate, total time consumed for discussion on policy issues spanned over 52 minutes. The maximum time consumed, 18 minutes, was discussing the bill titled the Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Bill, 2023.

Senators belonging to the opposition tore copies of the bill and protested against it by raising slogans such as “fake bill unacceptable” and “imported government unacceptable” in the House and surrounded Chairman Senate’s dais.

Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Shahzad Waseem (Punjab, PTI), accused the government of attempting to hide behind the Parliament and said that the government should “stop playing with the Constitution.”

Speaking in favour of the bill, Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Azam Nazir Tarar said that the legislation neither disrespected the Parliament nor the courts. He explained that the bill encompassed four sections in line with Article 188 of the Constitution.[4]

Table 3: Time consumed on Discussion of Policy Issues

References

  1. “Bill on right to appeal in suo motu cases gets Senate’s nod.” Express Tribune online, May 05, 2023, accessed December 25, 2023. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2415249/bill-on-right-to-appeal-in-suo-motu-cases-gets-senates-nod. ↑

  2. “Bill linked to ‘review’ in suo motu cases sails through Senate amid ruckus.” Pakistan Today online, May 05, 2023, accessed December 25, 2023. https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/05/05/bill-linked-to-review-in-suo-motu-cases-sails-through-senate-amid-ruckus/. ↑

  3. “Senate passes ‘SC Review of Judgments and Orders Bill 2023’ amid ruckus.” The Nation online, May 05, 2023, accessed December 28, 2023. https://www.nation.com.pk/05-May-2023/senate-passes-sc-review-of-judgments-and-orders-bill-2023-amid-ruckus. ↑

  4. “Senate passes ‘SC Review of Judgments and Orders Bill 2023’ amid ruckus,” The Nation online. May 05, 2023, accessed December 28, 2023. https://www.nation.com.pk/05-May-2023/senate-passes-sc-review-of-judgments-and-orders-bill-2023-amid-ruckus. ↑