ISLAMABAD, July 27, 2020: The National Assembly transacted almost half of its agenda on Monday and witnessed introduction of eight government bills, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the 12th sitting of 23rd session:
Members’ Participation
- The Assembly met for two hour and 38 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1615 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 55 minutes while remaining sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Leaders of House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- The Parliamentary Leader of PPPP attended the sitting.
- As many as 43 lawmakers (13%) were present at the outset and 89 (26%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- Five out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs presented the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Ordinance, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020; the Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020; the Companies (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and the Public Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
- Eight government bills were also introduced in the House which were referred to the relevant committees for deliberations. These bills were the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.
- Chairperson Standing Committee on Climate Change presented the report of the Committee on the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
- Nine other bills appearing on the agenda for passage were not considered by the House.
- The House passed four separate motions for consideration of the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2018; the ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2020; the Surveying and Mapping (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules) Bill, 2020 in the joint sitting of Parliament. These legislative proposals, sailing smoothly in National Assembly, have not been passed by the Senate within ninety days of its laying in the Senate.
- Chairmen Standing Committees on Inter-provincial Coordination and Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development presented the Periodical Reports of the Standing Committee for the period July – December, 2019, as required by rule 234-A of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House did not take up two Calling Attention Notices appearing on the agenda.
- Three lawmakers participated in debate on a motion under Rule 259 regarding privatization policy of the government for 31 minutes.
- The House took up six out of 11 starred questions during the question hour while lawmakers also asked 11 supplementary questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- Twelve lawmakers spoke on points of order for an hour and 13 minutes.
- The House was adjourned to meet again on July 28, 2020 (Tuesday) at 1600 hours.
Transparency
- Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
- Attendance of lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website
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