ISLAMABAD, September 2, 2016: The National Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the anti-Pakistan statement of Altaf Hussain while the government introduced the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Bill, 2016 before the Lower House on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the 35th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 10 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1101 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Forty-six lawmakers (13%) were present at the outset and 82 (24%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, MQM, PkMAP, JI, PML-F, AMLP, ANP and PML-Z attended the sitting.
- Seven minority members were present.
Output
- The House witnessed the introduction of the Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Bill, 2016. Both bills were referred to the relevant standing committees for further deliberations. Three lawmakers spoke on the Inquiry Commission Bill for 10 minutes.
- Moved by Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, the House adopted a resolution condemning the provocative statements of MQM founder Altaf Hussain. A federal minister spoke on the subject for 13 minutes.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as 12 out of 39 Starred Questions were responded to by the government. The lawmakers also asked 17 Supplementary Questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- The parliamentary leader of MQM spoke for 20 minutes on a Point of Order. The speech was related to the anti-Pakistan statement of Altaf Hussain.
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.