ISLAMABAD, June 23, 2015: The National Assembly passed the Finance Bill 2015 amid opposition’s walkout during 13^th sitting of the 23^rd session on Tuesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

After the passage of Finance Bill, 2015, the Minister for Finance spoke for 17 minutes. The House also approved 110 supplementary demands for grants and appropriations for the year 2014-15 while the Finance Minister expressed his views for six minutes.

The sitting started 37 minutes behind the schedule with 57 members (17%) present at the start and 103 (30%) at the time of adjournment. The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 76 minutes.

The sitting suspended for 93 minutes when the entire opposition walked out of the House protesting over the energy crisis and ignoring their cut motions. An Independent lawmaker tore the copy of agenda to lodge protest over worsening energy crisis in the country.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for five hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1037 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
• 57 members (17%) were present at the start and 103 (30%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 212 members (62%) attended the proceedings.
• The Prime Minister was not present.
• The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for 76 minutes.
• The Finance Minister attended 99% (314 minutes) of the sitting.
• Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, AMLP, QWP, ANP, JI, MQM, PML, PML-F, JUI-F and APML were present.
• Nine minority members attended the proceedings.
• Fifteen members applied for leave.

Output

• The House passed the Finance Bill, 2015.
• The House also approved 110 supplementary demands for grants and appropriations for the year 2014-15.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Tabled by State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House passed a motion to suspend the routine business during the next sitting and discuss ongoing energy crisis.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised fourteen points of order that consumed 80 minutes of the sitting.
• The entire opposition walked out of the House at 1157 hours against the energy crisis and ignoring their cut motions. They did not return to the House until the adjournment of the sitting.
• An Independent lawmaker tore the copy of agenda to lodge protest over energy crisis.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to observers and the public.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.