ISLAMABAD, January 14, 2022: The National Assembly left entire private members’ agenda unaddressed and consumed major part of the proceedings in points of order, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet on Friday.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 40th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for 56 minutes.
- The sitting started at 11:39 am against the scheduled time of 11:00 am.
- The deputy speaker presided over 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 53 (15 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 48 (14 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML-N and GDA attended the sitting.
- Six minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House did not consider legislative business, 34 reports of standing committees, four private members’ resolutions and two amendments in the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the National Assembly, 2007. A motion was passed by the House in a previous sitting to take up private members’ agenda on Friday rather than Tuesday.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House did not consider five motions under Rule 259.
- A calling attention notice was not taken up while other was deferred due to absence of relevant minister.
Order and Institutionalization
- Sixteen lawmakers spoke on points of order for 47 minutes (84 percent of the proceedings’ time).
- The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, January 17, 2022 at 04:00 pm.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers was available to 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