IMPORTANT PARLIAMENARTY TERMS
PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PUNJAB
Absolute Majority more than half the votes of the total membership of the Assembly;
Abstain to abstain from voting for or against a motion, while present in the House;
Act of Provincial Assembly Bills passed by the Assembly, assented to by the Governor and published in Punjab Gazette;
Adjournment to suspend proceedings to another time;
Adjournment Sine Die to suspend the proceeding without fixing a time or date for next meting;
Adjournment Motion a motion to adjourn the business of the Assembly for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of recent and urgent public importance;
Adjournment Debate if more than one-sixth of the total membership of the Assembly rise in favour of the Adjournment Motion, the Speaker shall announce that leave is granted and the motion shall be taken up for discussion in the same session for not more than two hours on such day or as soon as possible, within three days after the leave is granted, as the Speaker may fix;
Advocate General Advocate General appointed under Article 140 of the Constitution;
Agenda the list of business to be brought before the Assembly for consideration and decision at its sitting on any day;
Allotment of Days days allotted by Speaker for general discussion on the Budget as a whole, including discussion on expenditure charged upon the Provincial Consolidated Fund; and discussion and voting on demands for grants (in respect of expenditure other than charged expenditure), including voting on motions for reduction, if any;
Amending Act An Act of Assembly whose sole purpose is to modify another Act or Acts;
Amendment a motion to amend an earlier motion before that earlier motion is put to the Assembly for decision;
Ascertainment After the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker following a general election or whenever office of the Chief Minister falls vacant for any reason, the Assembly shall not transact any business unless it has been ascertained which one of the members commands the confidence of the majority of the members for the office of Chief Minister in a special session convened for that very purpose;
Assent refers to the power of the Governor to assent the bill passed by the Assembly or return the same to Assembly for reconsideration;
Auditor-General the Auditor General of Pakistan appointed under Article 168 of the Constitution;
Ayes and Noes Ayes the word used for voting 'yes' and Noes for ‘no’ in the Assembly;
Backbenchers the members other than Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, Advisor and Special Assistants;
Bi-cameral A Parliament consists of two Houses. The Parliament of Pakistan is bi-cameral consist of Senate and National assembly, while in province it is unicameral;
By-elections A by-election occurs when a seat in the Provincial Assembly becomes vacant during the lifetime of a Provincial Assembly (i.e. between general elections) due to death, resignation, unseating or disqualification of a member;
Bill a proposal for making a new law or amending the existing one;
Budget the statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Provincial Government for a fiscal year which the provincial government should lay before Assembly in every financial year;
Business any matter which can be brought before the Assembly under the Constitution and Rules;
Cabinet the Cabinet consists of Ministers, with the Chief Minister at its head, to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions;
Call Attention Notice Call Attention Notice’ means a notice by which a special question of public importance involving law and order may be raised;
Casting Vote a deciding vote used by the Presiding Officer of the Assembly, when the votes on both sides are equal;
Chair the Presiding Officer at a meeting of the House or a Committee;
Chamber the place where the Assembly meets to transact its business;
Chief Minister a member who commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly ascertained in a special session of the Assembly;
Chief Whip a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure the presence of the members of the party in the House;
Clause (of a bill) divisions of a bill consisting of an individual sentence or statement, once a bill becomes law, its clauses are referred to as sections;
Clause-by-Clause Consideration the stage for consideration of a Bill when it is considered clause by clause, at this stage amendment can be proposed in the clause of the Bill;
Closure A closure motion in the House is when a member requests the Speaker to close the debate and put the question;
Committee group of members who are elected by the Assembly for special purpose or subject. There are following types of committees in the Assembly;
a) Standing Committee is a subunit of Assembly established in a permanent fashion to aid the parent Assembly in accomplishing its duties. A standing committee is granted jurisdiction over a particular area of legislation by the Assembly;
b) Select Committee a committee constituted to consider a Bill, the Minister in charge of the Department to which the Bill relates, the Chairman of the Committee concerned with the Bill, the member-in-charge and the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs shall be included in a Select Committee and it shall not be necessary to include their names in any motion for election of such a Committee.
c) Special Committee a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues;
Constitution means the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973;
Constituency a constituency for Provincial Assembly delimited under the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 1974 (XXXIV of 1974);
Constituent a registered voter in a constituency;
Cut motions a motion moved by a member to reduce the amount of a demand for grant;
Debate a discussion in which the arguments for or against a subject are presented in the Assembly according to rules;
Demands for grants a proposal made, by Minster for Finance, to the Provincial Assembly for withdrawal of certain sum out of Provincial Consolidated Fund for expenditure which are granted or deem to have been granted under Article 122 of the Constitution;
Dissolution the bringing to an end of a Parliament, either on the expiry of its five years term or otherwise in accordance with the provision of the constitution;
Division a mode of voting by dividing of the members into two groups (the ayes and noes) in order to reach a decision;
Division Bell the Speaker will order a Division to be held by uttering the word “Division” and shall direct that the Division bells be rung for five minutes to enable members not present in the chamber to return to their places. Immediately after the bells stop ringing, all the entrances to the members lobby will be locked and the staff posted at each gate will not allow any entry or exit through these gates until the Division has concluded;
Election the process of choosing a representative by vote;
Ex Officio Member generally taken to be a person, who, by virtue of an office or position held, is officially attached to a committee as a non voting member;
Expunction of the words from debates if the Speaker is of the opinion that words have been used in debates, which are defamatory, indecent, un-parliamentary or un-dignified, he may, in his discretion, either during the debate or subsequently, order that such words be expunged from the proceedings of the Assembly;
Finance Bill the Bill introduced in each year to give effect to the financial proposals of the provincial Government for the next financial year, and includes a Bill to give effect to Supplementary financial proposals for any period;
Fiscal Year the twelve month period, from July 1 to June 30, used by the Government for budgetary and accounting purposes;
Floor of the House the part of the Chamber of the House reserved for the Members and the officials of the House;
Galleries areas in the House set aside for the public, the press and distinguished visitors who wish to attend a sitting;
Gazette the Punjab Gazette;
General discussion a Minister or a member may give notice of a motion that any policy or situation may be discussed by the Assembly;
Leader of the House the Chief Minister or a member designated by the Chief Minister to represent Government and regulate Government business in the Assembly;
Leader of Opposition a member who, in the opinion of the Speaker, is for the time being leader of the majority of the members in the Opposition;
Legislation the process of making a law;
Legislative Process the processes by which bills are approved by Assembly and become laws after the assent of Governor;
Limitation of Debate a procedure preventing further adjournment of debate on any motion or on any stage of a bill and requiring that the motion come to a vote at the end of the sitting in which it is invoked;
Guillotine A provision in the rules which requires that the House reach a decision on a given matter by a particular date or at the end of a specified period of time;
Mace a large, heavy and richly-ornamented staff which is the symbol of authority of the House, when the Speaker takes the Chair, the Mace is placed on the table to signify the House is in session;
Member a member of the Assembly and for purposes of moving or opposing a Bill, an amendment, a motion or a resolution, includes a Minister;
Member-in-Charge in the case of Government Bill, a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary acting on behalf of the Government, and in the case of a private member’s Bill, the member who has introduced it or any other member authorized by him in writing to assume charge of the Bill in his absence;
Minister a Provincial Minister appointed under Article 132 of the Constitution and includes the Chief Minister;
Minutes are the instant written record of a meeting;
Money Bill a Bill or amendment which if enacted and brought into operation would involve expenditure from the Provincial Consolidated Fund or withdrawal from the Public Account of the Province. The Bill or amendment shall not be introduced or moved in the Provincial Assembly except by or with the consent of the Provincial Government;
Mover the mover of a Bill, a resolution, a motion or an amendment of a Bill, a resolution or a motion and in the case of a Government Bill, a resolution, a motion or an amendment, a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary acting on behalf of the Government;
Motion a proposal made by a member relating to any matter which may be discussed by the Assembly;
No Confidence Motion a motion of no confidence moved against Chief Minister under the Article 136 of the Constitution;
Oath of Office a person elected to the House shall not sit or vote until he has made before the House oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution;
Opposition the party or parties who do not belong to the governing party;
Out of Order contrary to the rules of parliamentary procedure, the expression may be applied to motions, bills or to any intervention which runs contrary to the rules of the House;
Panel of Chairmen at the commencement of a session, the Speaker nominate, in order of precedence, from amongst members a panel of not more than four Chairmen and in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the member having precedence amongst those present at the sitting takes the Chair;
Parliament the parliament of Pakistan consists of the President of the Pakistan and two Houses to be known as the National Assembly and the Senate;
Point of Order a point of order shall relate to the interpretation or enforcement of these rules or such Articles of the Constitution as regulate the business of the Assembly and shall raise a question which is within the cognizance of the Speaker;
Precedent a Speaker's ruling or a practice of the House taken as a rule for subsequent cases of a similar nature, not all decisions and practices constitute precedents;
Precincts of the Assembly the Assembly Chamber’s building, courtyard and gardens, Committee rooms appurtenant thereto, and includes the hall, members’ lobbies, galleries, rooms of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Ministers and other offices of the Government located in the Assembly Building, and the offices of the Assembly Secretariat and any other premises which are notified as such for a specified time by the Speaker in the Gazette;
Presiding Officer in relation to a sitting of the Assembly, means any person who is presiding at that sitting;
Press Gallery a gallery in the House reserved for accredited members of the media;
Private Member a member who is not a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary;
Private Member's Bill is a proposed law introduced by a Private member;
Proceedings the actions taken by the House or by a committee, the most important parts of the proceedings are the decisions that are taken;
Prorogue prorogation ends a session of Assembly, but does not dissolve it.
Provincial Consolidated Fund and Public Account all revenues received by the Provincial Government, all loans raised by that Government, and all moneys received by it in repayment or any loan, shall form part of a consolidated fund, to be known as the Provincial Consolidated Fund.
(2) All other moneys received by or on behalf of the Provincial Government; or received by or deposited with the High Court or any other court established under the authority of the Province; shall be credited to the Public Account of the Province.
Put the Question putting of the question by the presiding officer to a vote;
Question subject to the provisions of the rules, a question may be asked for the purpose of obtaining information on a matter of public concern within the special cognizance of the Minister to whom it is addressed;
a) Short Notice Question not less than fifteen clear days’ notice of a question shall be given unless the Speaker, with the consent of the Minister concerned, allows a question to be asked at shorter notice: Provided that if the consent of the Minister is not received within seven days from the receipt of the communication, the Speaker may admit a short notice question if he is satisfied that it is a matter of urgent public importance;
b) Supplementary Question when a starred question has been answered any Member may ask such supplementary questions as may be necessary for the elucidation of the answer;
Question Hour a time fixed under the rules for asking and answering questions;
Question of privilege- a member may, with the consent of the Speaker, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the Assembly or of a Committee;
Questions to Private Members a question may be addressed to a private member provided the subject-matter of the question relates to some Bill, resolution or other matter connected with the business of the House for which that member is responsible, and the procedure in regard to such question shall, as far as may be, the same as that followed in the case of a question addressed to a Minister with such variations as the Speaker may consider necessary or convenient;
Quorum is the minimum number of members of Assembly necessary to conduct the business of the Assembly. Under Article 55(2) of the Constitution 1/4th of the total membership of the Assembly is required for Quorum;
Quorum Call to draw the attention of the Presiding Officer to the absence of a quorum;
Referral to a Committee the sending of a bill, a resolution, a question or any other matter to a committee for study and report, depending on the objectives of the referral, it may be made to a standing or special committee or to a Committee of the whole;
Resolution a motion for the purpose of discussing and expressing opinion on a matter of general public interest and includes a resolution specified in the Constitution;
Rules the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab 1997;
Secretary of the Assembly and includes any person for the time being performing the duties of the Secretary;
A Serjeant at Arms is an officer appointed by a Speaker to carry out his order in respect to keep order in the House;
Session the period commencing on the day of the first sitting of the Assembly after having been summoned and ending on the day the Assembly is prorogued or dissolved;
Sitting a meeting of the Assembly or that of a Committee on a day;
Speaker is the Head of a legislature who is elected from amongst the member through secret ballot and performs function as mentioned in Constitution;
Starred Question a question for an oral answer;
Sub-committee a Committee may, with the approval of the Speaker, appoint a sub-committee, for a specified function arising out of the matter referred to the Committee;
Supplementary Budget an expenditure statement introduced to provide funds to the Government to meet new or additional expenses in a fiscal year;
Table the Table of the House;
Unstarred question a question for a written answer