ISLAMABAD, September 17, 2014: Starting 35 minutes behind schedule, the eighth sitting of the 3rd Joint Session of the Parliament on Wednesday witnessed low attendance as 64 legislators were present at outset while 101 at the adjournment of the sitting, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Continuing debate on a motion about the prevailing political situation in the country, three legislators – one each from BNP-A, ANP and PPPP– spoke for an hour and 48 minutes.

Eighteen Points of Order consumed 72 minutes (33 %) of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 28 minutes while, his counterpart, the Leader of the Opposition, was present for two hours and 25 minutes.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The Joint Sitting lasted three hours and 37 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1735 hours against the scheduled time of 1700 hours, witnessing a delay of 35 minutes.
• The House had a prayer break for 26 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The Deputy Speaker was also present. The Chairman Senate did not attend the sitting while the Deputy Chairman Senate was present for two hours and 12 minutes.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 28 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was there for two hours and 25 minutes. The Leader of the House in Senate attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition in Senate was present for two hours and 32 minutes.
• Sixty-four legislators (14% of the total membership of 446 – 342 in NA and 104 in Senate) were present at the outset of the sitting while 101 (23%) were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 182 members (41%) were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
• The NA parliamentary leaders of QWP, PkMAP, JI, ANP and APML attended the sitting.  Similarly, Senate’s parliamentary leaders of NP, PPPP, PML-N and ANP were also present.
  

Representation and Responsiveness

• Three parliamentarians – one each of BNP-A, ANP and PPPP – took part in the debate on Motion regarding the political situation in the country.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eighteen Points of Order consumed 72 minutes (33 %) of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling. Unless, the Chair gives a formal ruling on a Point of Order, it doesn’t lead to any assembly output.
• There was no instance of protest, boycott or walkout.

Transparency

• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.  

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