ISLAMABAD, December 19, 2016: The National Assembly did not take up any agenda item on Monday amid protests by opposition and treasury lawmakers, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during fourth sitting of the 38th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 29 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1818 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for two hours and 27 minutes.
- Ninety-six lawmakers (28%) were present at outset while 57 (16%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, BNP-A, QWP-S, ANP, AMLP and APML attended the sitting.
- Six minority members were present.
Output
- The House did not take up legislative agenda appearing on Orders of the Day.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House suspended the Question Hour on a motion made by Minister of State for Information.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on nine Points of Order consuming an hour and 40 minutes of the proceedings. They spoke on issues related to investigations in Panama Leaks.
- The lawmakers belonging to PML-N and PTI protested against each other by chanting slogans at multiple occasions, consuming four minutes of the proceedings.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- The 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.