ISLAMABAD, June 10, 2010: The sixth sitting was marked by low attendance of the legislators with only 47 members present at the outset and 75 MNAs present at the end. As many as 11 members addressed the House taking up 213 minutes of the sitting. The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 75 minutes, while the Leader of Opposition was absent, reports the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on the Sixth Sitting of the 23^rd Session of the National Assembly proceedings.

The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The National Assembly met for 03 hour and 55 minutes.
• The sixth sitting started at 1115 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1100 hours. The House proceedings started late by 15 minutes.
• The Speaker of the House chaired the sitting for 85 minutes, while the remaining 90 minutes were chaired by Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel (Panel of Chairpersons). The Deputy Speaker also remained present during the proceedings for 60 minutes.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 75 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition remained absent.
• Parliamentary leaders of PMLF and PPPS were present while the leaders of PML, MMAP, ANP, MQM, NPP and BNPA were absent.
• The Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN, PML, ANP, MQM, MMAP, PPPS and PMLF were present, while those of NPP and BNPA were absent.
• 02 Members appealed for leave to be absent from the sitting
• A total of 47(14%) members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 75 (22%) at the end of the sitting.
• A total of 7 minority members were present during the sixth sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• As many as 11 legislators addressed on the budgetary proposals presented in the third sitting.
• Three members of PPPP addressed on the budget for a total of 54 minutes. Two out of 11 members belonged to PMLN, who spoke for a total of 38 minutes. 2 members of PML addressed the house for a total of 34 minutes. One member of MQM took 12 minutes, while one MMAP legislator spoke on the budget for 20 minutes. The leader of PPPS debated on the budget for 40 minutes, while the one independent addressed the house for 14 minutes.
• The Minister for Finance and Revenue was present for 122 minutes during the course of the sitting.

Output

• The House debated on the Finance Bill, 2010 presented in the third sitting.

Order and institutionalization

• 11 Points of Order was raised, taking up 16 minutes of the House proceedings. However, it didn’t require Speaker’s ruling
• There was no Adjournment Motion on the Orders of the Day.
• There was no instance of protest, boycott or walkout during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The copies of the budget speech were available to the concerned.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN