Budget Debate Consumes 94 % of NA Sitting

ISLAMABAD, June 22, 2019: The major portion of the National Assembly’s proceedings was consumed in debate on the federal budget 2019-20 on Saturday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during ninth sitting of the 11th NA session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for 10 hours and 20 minutes.
  • The proceedings started at 1043 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for seven hours and 28 minutes while rest of the proceedings was chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • A total of 33 lawmakers (10%) were present at the outset and 24 (7%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of JWP and BAP attended the sitting.
  • Five out of 10 minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

Output

  • Tabled by a PTI lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution to send an official delegation in Rabi-ul-Awal consisting of members belonging to Parliamentary Parties at shrine of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) to pay homage on behalf of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

  Representation and Responsiveness

  • Forty lawmakers took part in the general discussion on the federal budget for the year 2019-20. The discussion consumed nine hours and 45 minutes (94%) of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Three lawmakers spoke on points of order for nine minutes.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on June 23, 2019 (Sunday) at 1400 hours.

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