Chair Directs Govt to Ensure Ministers’ Presence in National Assembly

ISLAMABAD, October 4, 2017: The National Assembly addressed the entire agenda on Wednesday, amid directions of the Chair for the government to ensure attendance of ministers during the House proceedings, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during third sitting of the 47th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for an hour and 24 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1039 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for 18 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition was present for eight minutes.
  • As many as 42 (12%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 94 (27%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, QWP-S, ANP and APML attended the sitting.
  • Four minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • The Chairpersons or the Members of the Standing Committees on National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination, Defence, Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics & Privatization, Parliamentary Affairs, Petroleum & Natural Resources, Law & Justice, Science & Technology, Cabinet Secretariat and Inter Provincial Coordination presented the periodical reports of their respective committees.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up two Calling Attention Notices regarding the delay in development work of Phase-I of Bhara Kahu Housing Project and increase in the electricity tariff.
  • The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs moved a motion to express gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to the Parliament on the 1st of June, 2017. The discussion on the motion will commence during the next sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The lawmakers raised 17 Points of Order (POs) consuming 45 minutes of the proceedings.
  • A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1152 hours; however, it was found complete on the headcount.
  • The Chair directed the government to ensure the attendance of ministers during the proceedings of the House.

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