Lack of Quorum Mars NA Proceedings

ISLAMABAD, August 2, 2019: The National Assembly was adjourned without addressing the regular business due to lack of quorum on Friday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in the Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during third sitting of the 13th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for 40 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1125 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of Speaker.
  • The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • Fifty-three lawmakers (15%) were present at the outset and 66 (19%) at the adjournment of sitting.
  • Four minority members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House did not take up any agenda item appearing on Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A PML-N lawmaker pointed out quorum at 1141 hours due to absence of ministers during the question hour which led to the suspension of the proceedings for 22 minutes. The sitting resumed at 1203 hours but the Chair had to adjourn the sitting as the attendance of lawmakers was less than the required strength (i.e. one-fourth of total membership – 342).
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on August 5, 2019 (Monday) at 1600 hours.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Attendance of the 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.