ISLAMABAD, January 25, 2018: The National Assembly’s 51st session was prorogued sine die on Thursday while the proceedings remained suspended for 37 minutes due to lack of quorum during the last sitting, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during tenth and last sitting of the 51st session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 54 minutes while the proceeding remained suspended for 37 minutes due to lack of quorum.
- The sitting started at 1037 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.
- As many as 34 (10%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 54 (16%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary Leaders of PPPP, ANP, APML and QWP attended the sitting.
- Four minority members were present.
Output
- The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs laid before the House the first Quarterly report of the Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan on the State of Pakistan’s Economy for the year 2017-18.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up four out of 32 Starred Questions for answers during the Question Hour. The lawmakers also asked 10 supplementary questions.
- The House took up two Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding delays in the development of Sectors I-12 and D-13 Islamabad and depiction of Gilgit Baltistan as part of India instead of Pakistan in all internationally recognized maps.
- As many as 14 lawmakers raised the matters of public importance under Rule 18 consuming 51 minutes of the proceedings.
- The House did not address the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to the Parliament.
Order and Institutionalization
- A lawmaker spoke on a Point of Order consuming three minutes of the proceedings.
- A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1045 hours which led to the suspension of the proceedings for 37 minutes.
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.