ISLAMABAD, February 2, 2017: The National Assembly passed two government bills in the absence of Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition on Thursday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during sixth sitting of the 39th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for three hours and 13 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1033 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Eighteen lawmakers (5%) were present at the outset and 39 (11%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, ANP, BNP-A and QWP-S attended the sitting.
- Four minority members were present.
Output
- Minister for Law and Justice introduced the Rulers of Acceding States (Abolition of Privy Purses and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
- The House passed the Cost and Management Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Costs of Litigation Bill, 2016 unanimously.
- The House referred the State Life Insurance Corporation (Re-organization and Conversion) Bill, 2016 as passed by the Senate to the relevant standing committee.
- The consideration of the Companies Bill, 2016 and the Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill, 2016 was deferred.
- Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence presented the report of the committee on the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Only ten out of 42 Starred Questions were taken up and answered during Question Hour. The lawmakers asked 15 supplementary questions as well.
- The House took up two Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding Safe Drinking Water Project and withdrawal of unregistered stents and substandard lenses.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on 12 Points of Order consuming 35 minutes of the proceedings.
- A PTI lawmaker staged a walkout at 1337 hours over the government’s unwillingness to provide natural gas to his constituency. He did not return to the House till adjournment of the sitting.
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.