ISLAMABAD, September 9, 2016: The National Assembly session was prorogued on Friday without addressing last sitting’s agenda except a report, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during sixth sitting of the 35th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 22 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1102 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was not present.
- The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) attended the sitting for 57 minutes.
- The Leader of the Opposition was not present.
- Forty-eight lawmakers (14%) were present at the outset and 25 (7%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, JI, QWP-S, APML and ANP attended the proceedings.
- Nine minority members were present.
Output
- Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs laid the Report of the Committee on FATA Reforms, 2016 before the House. Ten lawmakers discussed the report for 50 minutes.
- The House did not take up other reports and legislative business appearing on Orders of the Day.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as nine out of 34 Starred Questions were responded to by the government. The lawmakers also asked 18 Supplementary Questions.
- The House did not take up the Calling Attention Notices and Motion of Thanks to the President.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on seven Points of Order consuming 15 minutes of the proceedings.
- MQM lawmakers staged a walkout at 1314 hours over the operation against their party. They 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.