ISLAMABAD, June 5, 2017: The opposition parties in the National Assembly continued the boycott of the Budget session’s proceedings for fifth consecutive sitting on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth sitting of the 43rd session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 23 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1643 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and seven minutes while a member of the Panel of Chairpersons chaired the rest of the sitting.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 55 minutes.
- The Minister for Finance was not present
- As many as 106 lawmakers (31%) were present at the outset and 38 (11%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, QWP-S, ANP, APML and AMLP attended the sitting.
- Six minority lawmakers were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Nine lawmakers took part in general discussion on the budget for the year 2017-2018. The discussion consumed an hour and 41 minutes of the proceedings.
Order and Institutionalization
- Three lawmakers including the Leader of the Opposition spoke on Points of Order consuming 34 minutes of the sitting.
- Entire opposition walked out from the proceedings at 1705 hours over not telecasting the speeches of opposition lawmakers on state television. They did not return to the House till the adjournment.
- A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum; however, it was found complete on headcount.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Information on Members’ attendance is available on National Assembly website.
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.