ISLAMABAD, August 11, 2011: The National Assembly met for an hour and 50 minutes during the ninth sitting of the 33^rd session. A total of 109 Members (32% of total Membership) were present at the outset, while 94 (28%) were present when the sitting was adjourned. The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting, but it was not pointed out by any of the Members.

The House continued debates on the Motion Under Rule 259 regarding the law and order situation prevailing in the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta. Two Members –one each of the PMLN and PML – spoke on the issue for 47 minutes (43% of sitting time)

A total of 14 Points of Order were also raised during the sitting. However, none of these POs attracted the Speaker’s ruling

The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was unanimously passed by the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister attended the sitting’s proceedings for 34 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition was absent. The Parliamentary Leader of the PPPS and MMAP were the only ones present, while the leaders of other parliamentary parties remained absent.

Following are some key observations of the Parliamentary Business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 50 minutes.
• The ninth sitting started at 1410 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1300 hours. The House proceedings started late by 70 minutes.
• The Speaker of the House chaired the initial 55 minutes of the sitting, while the remaining sitting time was presided over by A Member of Panel of Chairpersons. The Deputy Speaker was also present during the sitting.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 34 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition remained absent.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of the MMAP and PPPS were the only ones present, while the leaders of the PML, ANP, PMLF, MQM NPP, and BNPA were absent.
• The Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN, ANP, MMAP and MQM were present, while the chief whips of PML, NPP, PMLF and BNPA were absent.
• A total of 109 (32%) Members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 94 (28%) Members were present at the end of the sitting.
• Maximum presence of 156 Members (46%) was observed at one point of the sitting, when the Prime Minister was present.
• A total of seven out of 10 minority Members were present during the 9^th sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• There were no Calling Attention Notices listed on the Orders of the Day.
• The House debated upon the listed Motion Under Rule 259 for 47 minutes (43% of total sitting time).
• A total of two Members spoke on the issue of the law and order situation prevailing in the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta. One PML Members took 25 minutes to speak on the issue, while a PMLN Member expressed his opinion on the issue for 22 minutes.

Output

• The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was unanimously passed by the National Assembly.

Order and Institutionalization

• A total of 14 Points of Order were raised, consuming 42 (38%) minutes of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order raised by Members attracted Speaker’s ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, walkout or boycotts during the ninth sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting. However, lack of quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members of the National Assembly.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN