ISLAMABAD, July 9, 2021: The National Assembly left two-third agenda unaddressed and was adjourned due to lack of quorum on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during second sitting of the 35th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for 39 minutes.
- The sitting started at 11:28 am against the scheduled time of 11:00 am.
- The speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- The deputy speaker did not attend the sitting.
- The leaders of the house (Prime Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 44 (13%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 61 (18%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of JWP and PPPP attended the sitting.
- Four minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House witnessed introduction of two government bills including the Pakistan Maritime Zones Bill, 2021 and the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Both bills were referred to the relevant committees for further deliberation.
- The House did not consider a government bill and two resolutions seeking extension of the Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 and the Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs responded to a calling attention notice (CAN) regarding lack of planning to construct small housing units for poor families under the Prime Minister’s initiative of Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme.
- The House did not take up a CAN regarding unscheduled load shedding of electricity across the country and a motion of thanks to the President.
Order and Institutionalization
- Six lawmakers including Minister for Aviation spoke on points of order (POs) for ten minutes. These POs were related to legislative business, arrangements to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Gulf States and intermediate examinations being conducted from July 10, 2021 without completing syllabus.
- Lawmakers belonging to PML-N walked out from the proceedings at 12:01 pm against non-consideration on request to postpone the intermediate examinations.
- A PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 12:04 pm following which the Chair directed for counting. The quorum was found incomplete and the House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, July 12, 2021 at 04:30 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