ISLAMABAD, January 18, 2018: The National Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday condemning the remarks against the Parliament at a political gathering in Lahore while leaving its regular agenda unaddressed, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 51st Session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for three hours and two minutes.
- The sitting started at 1047 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and four minutes.
- As many as 30 (9%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 52 (15%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, APML, BNP-A, ANP, NPP and AJIP attended the sitting.
- Five minority members were present.
Output
- Moved by the Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, the House adopted a resolution condemning remarks of the PTI and AMLP chiefs against the Parliament at a public rally in Lahore.
- The House did not take up the motions for the presentation of two Standing Committee reports and a statutory report.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House did not address two Calling Attention Notices (CANs) and a Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to the Parliament.
- The House took up 11 out of 28 Starred Questions for answers during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked 24 Supplementary Questions as well.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised 12 Points of Order consuming 85 minutes of the proceedings. They discussed the issues related to the remarks against the Parliament.
- An Independent lawmaker and a PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1203 hours and 1320 hours respectively but it was found complete upon counting on both occasions.
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