ISLAMABAD, March 25, 2016: The National Assembly could not take up two agenda items due to lack of quorum on Friday during seventh and last sitting of 30th session of the National Assembly, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Newly elected lawmaker Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon took oath of membership during the sitting.
The Deputy Speaker announced the prorogation of the session.
Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 57 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1040 hours against its scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in absence of the Speaker.
- The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Six Federal Ministers were present.
- 46 MNAs (13%) were present at outset and 66 (19%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, PML, QWP-S, PML-Z, APML and AMLP were present.
- Seven minority members were present.
Output
- The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Members, Election Commission (Salary, Allowances, Perks and Privileges) Bill, 2016. The bill was referred to the relevant standing committee.
- The House did not take up a bill and a report appearing on the agenda.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Thirteen out of 37 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and orally responded to by the government. The lawmakers asked 22 supplementary questions as well.
- The government replied to two Calling Attention Notices (CAN) regarding promotion of religious and cultural tourism with neighboring countries and failure of the Tax Amnesty Scheme to attract traders to file their income tax returns.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on two points of order consuming five minutes of the proceeding.
- A PTI lawmaker pointed out the lacking quorum at 1235 hours that led to the adjournment of the proceeding.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The attendance of lawmakers was available to observers and media.
This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted