ISLAMABAD, March 17, 2017: The exchange of hot words between the treasury and the opposition benches ultimately led to the adjournment of National Assembly sitting on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during 10th sitting of the 40th session:
Members’ Participation
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 43 minutes.
- The sitting started at the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
- Deputy Speaker was also present.
- Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
- Twenty-eight lawmakers (8%) were present at the outset and 48 (14%) at the adjournment of sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of BNP-A and JI attended the sitting.
- Six minority lawmakers were also present.
Output
- The House witnessed presentation of seven periodical reports of five various Standing Committees.
Representation and Responsiveness
- As many as seven out of 35 Starred Questions were taken up during the Question Hour while the lawmakers asked 12 Supplementary Questions, as well.
- The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding non-construction of overhead bridges on the Kashmir Highway, while another CAN was not addressed.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on six Points of Order, consuming 20 minutes of the proceedings.
- A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum, however, it was not taken care of by the Chair. This led to the exchange of hot words between the Minister for Railways and PPPP lawmakers, and the Chair had to adjourn the House till Monday.
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.