Lack of quorum: Senate session lasts for less than five minutes

ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s second sitting of the 334th session lasted for less than five minutes on Friday. After the recitation from the Holy Quran, the quorum was pointed out, forcing the chair to adjourn the House till Monday afternoon.

As the House resumed after the two-day break, it was adjourned within no time as the required strength of 25 members was not around to ensure the minimum strength of the 100-member House.

PPP’s Senator Rubina Khalid presided over the brief sitting, wherein no business was transacted. After the quorum was pointed out, a count was made and it was observed the House lacked the required number of senators present.

Some legislators were interested in the session to continue, as they wanted to speak on certain matters. But they were seen helplessly exiting from the House after it was adjourned against their expectations.

According to the Senate Secretariat, 73 legislators were absent while 24 were present in the House. Three seats are vacant. One fell vacant after Caretaker PM Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar resigned, Shaukat Tareen resigned from his seat recently and Rana Maqbool Ahmad passed away a few months back.

The orders of the day included the introduction of some bills as well as laying of ordinances. On the first day of the new session on Tuesday, the members barred the caretaker government from laying bills and ordinances, saying with less than two months in elections, there was no urgency in transacting such business by a caretaker set-up. The chair had to adjourn the House till Friday morning, whereas the sitting time was changed to the afternoon the same day.

Talking to the media outside the Parliament House, National Party Senator Tahir Bizenjo and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mushtaq Ahmad called for a discussion in the Senate on the Balochistan situation on Monday.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that for two days, the Senate session was being adjourned as soon as it started. He said the issue of missing persons, extrajudicial killings and death squads in Balochistan is a serious issue but it is not being allowed to be discussed.

Lawmaker Tahir Bizenjo also demanded that the overall situation in Balochistan be discussed on Monday.