National Assembly: Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2011 passed

ISLAMABAD, October 14, 2012: The National Assembly, which met for two hours and 27 minutes during the third sitting of the 47th session, unanimously passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2011.

Additionally, the Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill 2010 was not taken up by the House.

The Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition and the parliamentary leaders of ANP, BNPA, PML, NP, MMAP and MQM did not attend the sitting. A Member of Panel of Chairpersons chaired the sitting.

Two Calling Attention Notices about delay in the payment of scholarships to the Pakistani students studying abroad and slow pace of work on Kashmir Highway Mega Project in Islamabad were taken up by the House.

Twenty Points of Order consumed 65 minutes of the sitting time.

Members’ participation in House proceedings

  • The National Assembly met for two hours and 27 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1811 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The proceedings started an hour and 11 minutes late.
  • A Member of Panel of Chairpersons chaired the sitting while the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker did not attend the sitting.
  • The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • Only the parliamentary leaders of the PMLF attended the sitting.
  • The Chief Whips of PPPP, MMAP and ANP were present.
  • Eighty-seven (25%) Members were present at the outset while there were 44 (12%) at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 128 Members were present at one point of the sitting.
  • Two Minority Members attended the sitting.
  • Nine Members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Two Calling Attention Notices about delay in the payment of scholarships to the Pakistani students studying abroad and slow pace of work on Kashmir Highway Mega Project in Islamabad were taken up by the House.
  • Five out of 30 questions appearing on the agenda were taken up and responded to by the relevant minister. Additionally, 12 Supplementary Questions were asked. 
  • The House did not take up the Motion under Rule 259 about law and order in the country for further discussion.

Output

  • The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2011 was unanimously passed by the House.
  • The Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill 2010 was not taken up by the House.

Order and institutionalization

  • A total of 20 Points of Order consumed 65 minutes.
  • There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts. 

 Transparency

  • Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
  • Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a Member organization of FAFEN.