ISLAMABAD, September 27, 2018: The National Assembly continued the general discussion on supplementary budget amidst walkout by the opposition lawmakers against remarks of Minister for Information on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceeding during the 5th sitting of second session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for three hours and 16 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1118 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 52 minutes while rests of the proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
- The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 35 minutes.
- As many as 95 lawmakers (28%) were present at outset and 65 (19%) at adjournment of the sitting.
- A member-elect made oath before the House under Article 65 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
- The parliamentary leaders of MMA, PML-N and BAP attended the sitting.
- As many as six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as three lawmakers participated in the discussion on the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The discussion continued for 60 minutes.
- Minister of State for Interior responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding cases of child abduction in Karachi.
- The House did not consider another CAN on the agenda.
- The House took up one starred question on the agenda which was responded to by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs on behalf of Minister of State for Communication. In addition, lawmakers asked three supplementary questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers raised eight points of orders consuming an hour and five minutes of the proceedings.
- The Opposition staged a 32-minute walkout against the remarks of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Division for a PPPP lawmaker. Later, the Minister apologized the Opposition over his remarks.
- A PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1432 hours but the Chair ignored it. Later, he announced to adjourn the sitting at 1434 hours to meet again on September 28, 2018 (Friday) at 1000 hours.
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.