ISLAMABAD, September 16, 2020: The Majlis-e-Shoora passed eight bills on Wednesday amid protest and walkout of the Opposition, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.
Key observations of the proceedings during first and last sitting of the 8th Joint Session of Parliament include the following:
Members’ Participation
- The Joint Session lasted two hours and 48 minutes.
- The session started at 1711 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker of National Assembly chaired the sitting for two hours and 30 minutes while the Chairman Senate presided over the remaining proceedings.
- The Deputy Chairman Senate did not attend the sitting while the Deputy Speaker National Assembly was also present in the House.
- The Prime Minister attended the entire sitting.
- The Leaders of the Opposition in Senate and National Assembly were present for an hour and 23 minutes.
- The Leaders of the House in the Senate attended the entire proceedings. .
- As many as 370 legislators (83% of the membership – 446) were present at the start and 181 (41%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, PPPP, BAP, AMLP, MQM, PML, ANP, GDA, JWP and PML-N in the National Assembly were present.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of JI, PTI, PkMAP, PML-N, NP, PPPP, MQM, ANP and JUI-F in the Senate attended the proceedings.
Output
- The House passed eight bills including the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020; the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Anti-Terrorism (3rd Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Surveying and Mapping (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Pakistan Medical Commission Bill, 2019; the Medical Tribunal Bill, 2019 and the ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2020.
- Earlier, the House passed a motion to introduce the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 with majority vote. Two-hundred (200) lawmakers voted in favor of the motion and 190 opposed it.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Leader of the House in National Assembly (Prime Minister) spoke on the motorway incident and approved legislative proposals for 25 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- Three lawmakers including the Minister for Law and Justice and Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs spoke on points of order for 13 minutes.
- The Opposition staged walked out of the House at 1834 hours when the Chair did not allow PPPP Chairperson and other lawmakers to speak on legislative proposals. They did not return to the House till adjournment of the sitting. The Chair was of the view that only those lawmakers can speak on the bills as per rules who have moved any amendment on them.
- The Session was prorogued sine die.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Majlis-e-Shoora proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted