National Assembly Discusses Indian Aggression at LoC

ISLAMABAD, November 25, 2016: The National Assembly did not take up any agenda except a motion to discuss the situation at Line of Control (LoC) in the absence of Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet on Friday.

In the previous sitting, it was agreed to suspend today’s agenda except a motion to discuss the situation at LoC in the wake of killing of civilians by Indian troops.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during sixth sitting of the 37th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for two hours and 44 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1039 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • Forty-four lawmakers (13%) were present at outset and 26 (7%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PkMAP, JI, PML-F, PML-Z, QWP-S and APML attended the sitting.
  • Five minority members were present.

Output

  • The House did not take up the legislative business as well as the reports appearing on the agenda.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House suspended Question Hour and did not address the Calling Attention Notices.
  • Moved by Minister for Law, Justice and Climate Change, the House held discussion on a Motion under Rule 259 regarding Indian aggression on Line of Control. Eighteen lawmakers spoke on the subject for two hours and seven minutes while the Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs concluded the discussion in five minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers spoke on six Points of Order consuming 13 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 proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted.