ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2020: The major portion of the National Assembly’s proceedings was consumed in the debate on the federal budget 2020-21, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during eighth sitting of the 22^nd NA session:

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for six hours and 47 minutes.
• The proceedings started at 1112 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker and Deputy Speaker presided over the sitting for 55 minutes and two hours and 31 minutes, respectively while rest of the proceedings was chaired by a member of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• A total of 28 lawmakers (8%) were present at the outset and 24 (7%) at the adjournment of the sitting. As per SOPs, 46 lawmakers of the government and 40 members of the opposition parties would attend each sitting during the ongoing budget session while the overall attendance to be marked at the main gate of the National Assembly.
• The parliamentary leaders of BNP-M, MMAP and PPPP attended the sitting.
• Four out of 10 minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• Nineteen lawmakers took part in the general discussion on the federal budget for the year 2020-21. The discussion consumed six and 23 minutes (94%) of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on June 18, 2020 (Thursday) at 1100 hours.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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