ISLAMABAD, September 20, 2021: The National Assembly left 95 percent agenda unaddressed on Monday amidst absence of the Leaders of the House and the Opposition, observes Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during 2nd sitting of the 36th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 21 minute; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 31 minutes due to prayer break.
- The sitting started at 05:50 pm against the scheduled time of 05:00 pm.
- The speaker chaired the entire sitting.
- The deputy speaker was not present.
- The leaders of the house (Prime Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 53 (15 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 78 (23 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- Six minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- Tabled by Minister of state for parliamentary affairs, the House unanimously adopted a resolution to express sorrow over the demise of former Chief Minister Balochistan Sardar Attaullah Mengal.
- The House did not consider five government bills including the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
- Two Ordinances including the Federal Government Properties Management Authority Ordinance, 2021, the Elections (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 and three statutory reports were not laid.
- Two reports of standing committee on finance and revenue regarding the Government Savings Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Post Office National Savings Certificates (Amendment) Bill, 2021 were not considered.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up four out of 41 starred questions. In addition, the lawmakers asked eight supplementary questions.
- The House did not take up two calling attention notices regarding performance of different institutions falling under the control of Ministry of Industries and Production and unscheduled electricity load-shedding in District Kasur.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker spoke on a point of order for one minute.
- The House was adjourned to meet on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 04:00 pm.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers was available to 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