ISLAMABAD, May 2, 2018: The National Assembly opened debate on the Federal Budget 2018-19 with the speech of Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during the second sitting of the 56th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for three hours and 10 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 28 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1628 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 15 minutes while the rests of the proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) was present for 13 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- As many as 41 lawmakers (12%) were present at the outset and 80 (23%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PkMAP, APML, QWP, ANP, PML-Z and JI attended the sitting.
- Seven minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- Tabled by a PTI lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to condemn the anti-women remarks used by some parliamentarians. Earlier, six lawmakers including five female parliamentarians spoke on it for 22 minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Leader of the Opposition opened the Budget debate and spoke for an hour and 56 minutes. He will continue his speech tomorrow.
Order and Institutionalization
- Prime Minister spoke on a point of order about implementation on FATA reforms package for seven minutes.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.