Government, Opposition Protests Mar NA Proceedings

ISLAMABAD, June 18, 2019: The proceedings of National Assembly remained suspended on Tuesday for an hour and 59 minutes (67 % of the total duration) due to the protests by treasury and opposition lawmakers, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during fifth sitting of the 11^th NA session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 57 minutes, however, the proceedings remained suspended for an hour and 59 minutes.
• The proceedings started at 1711 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader attended the sitting for 51 minutes.
• A total of 115 lawmakers (34%) were present at the outset and 149 (44%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of ANP, MMAP, BNP, PML-N, PPPP, BAP, JWP and GDA attended the sitting.
• Seven out of 10 minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

Output

• Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs presented the Assets Declaration Ordinance, 2019.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Leader of the Opposition spoke on the federal budget 2019-20 for four minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• As soon as the Leader of the Opposition opened the budget debate, his speech was interrupted by the treasury lawmakers, who chanted slogans against him. Following their protest, the PML-N lawmakers also protested after gathering around the dais of the Chair which led to the suspension of the proceedings for an hour and 59 minutes. The overall protest from both sides consumed seven minutes of the proceedings.
• Six lawmakers spoke on points of order for 34 minutes which were regarding their readiness to contribute for smooth proceedings of the House.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on June 19, 2019 (Wednesday) at 1030 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

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