National Assembly Condemns Violence against Rohingya Muslims

ISLAMABAD, September 20, 2017: The National Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth sitting of the 46th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for four hours and five minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1040 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for three hours and eight minutes while a member of the Panel of Chairpersons presided over the rest of the proceedings. The Speaker was not present.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 51 (15%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 11 (3%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PkMAP, JI, ANP, BNP-M, NP, QWP-S and APML attended the sitting.
  • Five minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • Moved by the Minister for Law and Justice, the House adopted a resolution condemning the violence against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
  • The House did not take up the legislative business appearing on the Orders of the Day.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • As many as 10 out of 36 Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings. The lawmakers also asked 29 supplementary questions.
  • The House held discussion on a motion under Rule 259 regarding the atrocities being committed against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Fourteen lawmakers participated in the discussion consuming two hours and four minutes.
  • The House took up two Calling Attention Notices regarding display of anti-Pakistan posters in Geneva, Switzerland and pictorial meter reading and overbilling in parts of Peshawar.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers raised four Points of Order consuming 12 minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Information on Members’ attendance is available on the National Assembly website.

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