ISLAMABAD, September 12, 2017: The National Assembly was adjourned on Tuesday due to lack of quorum without taking up nearly 80% of its agenda, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Following are key observations of the proceedings of the second sitting of 46th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 11 minutes of which the proceedings remained suspended for 33 minutes due to lack of quorum.
- The sitting started at 1039 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 27 minutes while the rest of the proceedings were presided over by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and ten minutes.
- Forty-one lawmakers (12%) were present at the outset and 72(21%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of APML, QWP-S, PkMAP, JI, PPPP, MQM and ANP attended the sitting.
- Five minority members were present.
Output
- The House witnessed the introduction of the Minimum Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017; the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Redistributive Land Reforms Bill, 2017. These bills were referred to relevant committees for further deliberations.
- The House dropped the Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2017 due to absence of the concerned lawmaker while the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was deferred due to the absence of concerned minister.
- The House did not take up six other bills, five resolutions, five motions under Rule 259 and nine reports appearing on the agenda.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House deferred a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding problems being faced by the students and parents in getting admissions in the colleges/schools in Islamabad.
- Another CAN regarding atrocities being committed against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was not taken up.
Order and Institutionalization
- Lawmakers spoke on two Points of Order consuming seven minutes of the proceedings.
- A minority lawmaker spoke on a matter of public importance for four minutes.
- A PPPP lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1106 hours that led to the suspension of the proceedings for 33 minutes. The quorum was pointed out again at 1248 hours by a PTI lawmaker and the sitting was adjourned after the head count.
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