Government Presents Federal Budget 2019-20 in National Assembly

ISLAMABAD, June 11, 2019: The Minister of State for Revenue presented the federal budget for the year 2019-20 in the National Assembly on Tuesday amid opposition’s protest, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during second sitting of the 11th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for an hour and 39 minutes.
  • The proceedings started at the scheduled time of 1700 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
  • The Deputy Speaker was also present.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) attended the sitting for an hour and 28 minutes.
  • The Leader of the Opposition was present for an hour and 19 minutes.
  • As many as 23 lawmakers (7%) were present at the outset and 201 (59%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of BNP, PPPP, AMLP, PML-N, ANP, PML and GDA attended the sitting.
  • As many as eight out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • Minister of State for Revenue presented before the House the Finance Bill, 2019, the Supplementary Demands for Grants and Appropriations for financial year, 2018-2019 and the Excess Demands for Grants and Appropriations for seven financial years. His budget speech consumed an hour and 26 minutes of the proceedings.
  • The Speaker made an announcement informing the Members of the House about arrest of PPPP lawmaker Asif Ali Zardari by NAB authorities on June 10, 2019.

  Order and Institutionalization

  • The opposition lawmakers, holding placards inscribed with anti-government slogans, protested during the speech of the Minister of State for Revenue and tore the copies of the agenda. The treasury and opposition lawmakers also chanted slogans against each other on multiple occasions.

Transparency

  • Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
  • The copies of the budget speech were available.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted