ISLAMABAD, May 13, 2016: The National Assembly addressed its entire agenda except a Calling Attention Notice while also adopted a supplementary resolution on Friday during fifth sitting of 32nd session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 42 minutes.
- The proceeding remained suspended for 45 minutes due to lack of quorum.
- The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time 1030 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
- Fourteen Federal Ministers attended the sitting.
- 54 MNAs (16%) were present at outset and 22 (6%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, AMLP, APML, and PML-Z attended the sitting.
- Six minority members were present.
Output
- Minister for Law and Justice introduce the Explosive Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2016 before the House.
- A member of the House and Library Committee presented the Periodical Report of the Committee for the period January – December, 2015.
- Moved by a female lawmaker of PML-N, the House adopted a supplementary resolution condemning the incidents of violence against women across the country in last few weeks.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up two out of 37 Starred Questions appearing on the agenda. A supplementary question was also asked. The Question Hour continued for only eight minutes as the sitting remained suspended for the remaining part of first hour.
- The government responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding meager pensions of the employees of Employees Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI).
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised 18 Points of Order consuming 75 minutes of the sitting.
- The Opposition lawmakers continued their boycott of the House for fifth consecutive sitting and walked out at 1043 hours. They did not return till adjournment of the sitting.
- A PTI lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1045 hours. The Chair suspended the proceeding after the counting. The sitting resumed at 1130 hours.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.