Fifth NA Sitting Adjourned due to Lack of Quorum

ISLAMABAD, September 18, 2017: Less interest of lawmakers in the proceedings of the National Assembly led to early adjournment of the sitting for fifth consecutive time on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for 56 minutes.
  • The sitting remained suspended for 46 minutes due to lack of quorum.
  • The sitting started at 1527 hours against the scheduled time of 1500 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • Eighteen lawmakers (5%) were present at the outset and 56 (16%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • Three minority members were present.

Output

  • The House did not take up three government bills, a motion under Rule 259 and a motion of thanks appearing on the agenda.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House did not take up two Calling Attention Notices appearing on the agenda.
  • Thirty-eight Starred Question appearing on agenda remained unaddressed.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A PPPP lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1535 hours on which the proceedings remained suspended for 46 minutes while a head count was made at 1621 hours and the quorum was found incomplete that led to the adjournment of the sitting.

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.