Debate on Finance Bill Consumes Major Part of NA Proceedings

ISLAMABAD, June 23, 2020: The National Assembly consumed major part of its proceedings in debate on the Finance Bill 2020 on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

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

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for eight hours and 49 minutes.
  • The proceedings started at 1011 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 27 minutes, Deputy Speaker for two hours and 56 minutes while rest of the proceedings was chaired by two Members of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • A total of 21 lawmakers (6%) were present at the outset and 34 (9%) 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 PML-N and PPPP attended the sitting.
  • Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

 Representation and Responsiveness

  • Thirty-eight lawmakers took part in the general discussion on the federal budget for the year 2020-21. The discussion consumed eight hours and 10 minutes of the proceedings.

 Order and Institutionalization

  • The Speaker, Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs and Parliamentary Leaders of PML-N and PPPP spoke on points of order for 13 minutes.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on June 24, 2020 (Wednesday) at 1000 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