ISLAMABAD, May 31, 2019: The 10th session of the National Assembly was prorogued sine die on Friday without addressing its scheduled business amidst protests by treasury and opposition lawmakers, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during last (fourth) sitting of the 10th session:
Members’ Participation
- The House met for 49 minutes.
- The proceedings started at 1107 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
- The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- As many as 111 lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 187 (55%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of BNP and PPPP attended the sitting.
- As many as six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.
Output
- The House did not take up any agenda item appearing on `Orders of the Day’.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House took up six out of 29 Starred Questions. In addition, the lawmakers asked 13 supplementary questions.
Order and Institutionalization
- The opposition lawmakers staged a four-minute protest during the proceedings against the statement of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs against two sittings independent MNAs. The minister called those lawmakers ‘anti-state elements.
- The treasury members including MQM lawmakers protested during the proceedings against the alleged poor performance of Sindh government and demanded the provincial government to ensure water supply in Karachi. The protesting parties and PPPP lawmakers also pushed and shoved each other during the entire episode.
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’s proceedings, conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted