ISLAMABAD, September 28, 2018: The proceeding of the National Assembly was suspended for 20 minutes due to lack of quorum and walkout by the Opposition lawmakers against Chair’s attitude on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceeding during the 6th sitting of second session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 17 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1030 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting in the absence of Speaker.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 23 minutes.
- As many as 72 lawmakers (21%) were present at outset and 90 (26%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PML-N and BAP attended the sitting.
- As many as five out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as six lawmakers participated in the discussion on the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The discussion continued for an hour and 22 minutes.
- Minister of State for Interior responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding blocked CNICs of the residents of FATA.
- The House did not consider another CAN on the agenda.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised two points of orders consuming thee minutes of the proceedings.
- A PML-N lawmaker pointed the quorum at 1043 hours following which the Chair ordered the headcount. The proceeding of the House was suspended for 20 minutes due to lack of quorum.
- Another PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1213 hours but it was found complete upon counting.
- The Opposition lawmakers walked out of the House for 34 minutes against Deputy Speaker’s refusal for headcount in the previous sitting after identification of quorum.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on October 1, 2018 (Monday) at 1630 hours.
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.