ISLAMABAD, June 6, 2017: The major portion of the National Assembly’s proceedings was consumed in the debate on the federal budget 2017-18 on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during 9th sitting of National Assembly’s 43rd session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for four hours and 32 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1141 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 64 minutes, the Deputy Speaker for two hours and 11 minutes while the rest of the proceedings were chaired by a member of the Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition remained present for 47 minutes.
- As many as 110 lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 11 (3%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JI, ANP, PkMAP and QWP-S attended the sitting.
- Five minority lawmakers were also present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Twenty-five lawmakers took part in the general discussion on the federal budget for the year 2017-2018. The discussion consumed four hours and 25 minutes (97%) of the proceedings.
Order and Institutionalization
- The entire opposition walked out of the House at 1228 hours for not airing their speeches on the state television. They did not return till the adjournment of the sitting. Earlier, the opposition protested within the House for two minutes over the same issue.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Information on Members’ attendance is available on the National Assembly website.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly’s proceedings, conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.