ISLAMABAD, March 10, 2020: The National Assembly left 80 percent agenda unaddressed on Private Member’s Day, observes the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily Factsheet on Tuesday.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the second sitting of the 20th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 40 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1625 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting in the absence of Speaker.
- The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 80 (23%) members were present at the outset and 151 (44%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, BAP, BNP and GDA attended the sitting.
- Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House witnessed introduction of eight Private Members’ Bills which were the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Prevention of Drugs usage in Educational Institutions Bill, 2020; the Employment of the Unattended Youth Bill, 2020 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
- A bill – the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2020 – was deferred due to mover’s absence.
- The House did not consider 11 other Private Members’ Bills appearing on the agenda for passage, 14 reports of Standing Committees, amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, six resolutions, five motions under Rule 259, two matters of urgent public importance under Rule 87 and a Calling Attention Notice.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum responded to a Calling Attention Notice regarding the Government’s plan to sell assets of Reko Diq to pay the debt of the country.
Order and Institutionalization
- Five lawmakers including Minister for Communications spoke on point of orders for 29 minutes.
- The opposition protested for 19 minutes on the floor during speech of Minister for Communication insisting the Chair to take up agenda. However, the Chair adjourned the House to meet again on March 11, 2020 (Wednesday) at 1100 hours.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website.
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