Lack of Quorum Leads to Adjournment of NA Sitting

ISLAMABAD, February 7, 2020: The National Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the rape of a minor child in Nowshera and was adjourned due to lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during sixth sitting of the 19th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for an hour and 56 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1043 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
  • The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 47 (14%) members were present at the outset and 43 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of BAP and PML attended the sitting.
  • Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • Tabled by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, the House adopted a resolution strongly condemning the rape of a minor child in Nowshera and demanded death punishment as well as  public hanging for those involved in this shameful incident.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Parliamentary Secretary for Finance responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about charging of sales and income tax in utility bills from the consumers of Malakand Division despite inclusion of the area in tax free zone.
  • Another CAN and a motion of thanks were not considered in the House while the Fiscal and Debt Policy Statements for the year 2019-2020 was not presented.
  • The House took up 13 out of 67 starred questions and lawmakers asked 24 supplementary questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Four  lawmakers spoke on points of order for 13 minutes.
  • A PML-N lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1236 hours which led to the adjournment of sitting.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on February 10, 2020 (Monday) at 1600 hours.

Transparency

  • Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Attendance of the lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website.

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