ISLAMABAD, August 12, 2011: The National Assembly met for an hour and 35 minutes during the last sitting of the 33rd session. The sitting which started 35 minutes late witnessed low attendance of Members, with only 45 Members present at the beginning and 104 present when the sitting was adjourned.
The Federal Minister for Interior concluded the debates on law and order situation prevailing in the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta. He spoke on the issue for 50 minutes.
The House also took up a Resolution regarding the formation of a parliamentary committee on the issue, which would present a report to the House in one month.
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 29 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition was not present. The Parliamentary Leaders of the MMAP, NPP and PPPS was the only ones present, while the leaders of other parliamentary parties did not attend the sitting’s proceedings. Following are some key observations of the Parliamentary Business
Members’ participation in House proceedings
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 35 minutes.
- The last sitting started at 1105 Hours against scheduled starting time of 1030 hours. The House proceedings started late by 35 minutes.
- The initial 25 minutes of the sitting were chaired by the Deputy Speaker, while the remaining sitting time was presided over by the Speaker of the House.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 29 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition was not present.
- The Parliamentary Leader of the MMAP, NPP and PPPS were the only ones present, while the leaders of the PML, ANP, PMLF, MQM and BNPA were absent.
- The Chief Whips of the PPPP, PMLN, PML, MQM, MMAP and ANP were present, while the chief whips of the BNPA and PMLF were absent.
- A total of 45 (13%) Members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 104 (30%) Members at the end of the sitting.
- As many as eight out of 10 minority Members were present during the 10thsitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- There were no Calling Attention Notices listed on the Orders of the Day.
- The Federal Minister for Interior concluded the Motion Under Rule 259 regarding law and order situation prevailing in the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta. He spoke on the issue 50 minutes.
Output
- There were no bills listed on the Orders of the Day.
Order and institutionalization
- A total of 22 Points of Order were raised, consuming 34 minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order raised by Members attracted the Speaker’s formal ruling.
- There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the last sitting.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
- Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
- The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting. However, lack of quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members of the National Assembly.
The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN