NA Approves 51 Demands for Grants, Rejects 595 Cut Motions

ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2015: The National Assembly approved 51 Demands for Grants while 595 Cut Motions were rejected on Monday during 15th sitting of 33rd session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceeding

  • The National Assembly met for four hours and 57 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1422 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for three hours and 26 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for four hours and 24 minutes.
  • Finance Minister attended the entire sitting.
  • Sixteen Federal Ministers were present.
  • 106 MNAs (31%) were present at outset and 96 (28%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, PML-F, PML, BNP-A, AMLP, ANP and QWP-S were present.
  • Nine minority members were present.

Output

  • The House approved 22 Demands for Grants worth more than 100 billion rupees for Cabinet Secretariat while the Opposition raised 335 Cut Motions on these Demands which were rejected. Fifteen Opposition lawmakers spoke on these Cut Motions for 119 minutes while the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs concluded the discussion and consumed 11 minutes.
  • The House also approved 29 Demands for Grants worth more than 1.6 trillion rupees for Finance Ministry while the Opposition raised 260 Cut Motions on these demands all of which were rejected. Eight lawmakers discussed these Cut Motions for 39 minutes while the Finance Minister summed up the discussion and spoke for 15 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers spoke on four Points of Order consuming seven minutes of the sitting.

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 proceeding conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.