ISLAMABAD, May 7, 2018: The National Assembly on Monday condemned the gun attack on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal in Narowal and continued general discussion on the Annual Budget 2018-19, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during the fifth sitting of the 56th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for three hours and 46 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 21 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 1726 hours against the scheduled time of 1700 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and three minutes while the rest of the proceedings were chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition was present for 21 minutes.
- As many as 30 lawmakers (9%) were present at the outset and 6 (2%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, BNP, NP, APML, MQM, QWP, PPPP, PML-F and ANP attended the sitting.
- Five minority lawmakers were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Eight lawmakers took part in the debate on annual budget 2018-19. The discussion continued for two hours and 35 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- Ten lawmakers spoke on as many points of order consuming 35 minutes of the proceedings. They mainly condemned the gun attack on Interior Minister through this parliamentary intervention.
- A lawmaker spoke on a point of personal explanation for two 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.