ISLAMABAD, September 10, 2012: The National Assembly, which met for three hours during the sixth sitting of the 44th session, did not discuss the motion on law and order in the country.

The government ally – ANP – continued its boycott of the proceedings over the issuance of local government ordinance in Sindh.

Two bills – the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 and the Gwadar Port Authority Bill 2012 – appearing on the orders of the day were not taken up by the House.

A report on Pakistan Coinage (Amendment) Bill 2010 was presented in the House. The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and all the parliamentary leaders did not attend the sitting. However, the Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN and PML were present. The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting.

Two Calling Attention Notices – non-payment of funds to ERRA due to which work on development schemes stopped and allotment of commercial plots by CDA to its favorites without inviting tenders – were taken up by the House.

A total of 16 Points of Order consumed 42 minutes.

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The National Assembly met for three hours.
• The sitting started at 1755 hours instead of the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The proceedings started 55 minutes late.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting. The Speaker was not present.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the proceedings.
• None of the parliamentary leaders was present.
• The Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN and PML were present.
• A total of 51 (15%) Members were present at the outset while there were 50 (15%) at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 113 Members were present at one point of the sitting.
• 13 Members applied for leave.
• Eight minority Members were present.
• The House took a 30-minute prayer break.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Two Calling Attention Notices – non-payment of funds to ERRA due to which work on development schemes stopped and allotment of commercial plots by CDA to its favorites without inviting tenders – were taken up by the House.
• Seven out of 27 questions was taken up and responded to by the relevant Minister. Additionally nine supplementary questions were also asked.

Output

• Two bills – the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 and the Gwadar Port Authority Bill 2012 – were not taken up by the House.
• A report on Pakistan Coinage (Amendment) Bill 2010 was presented in the House.

Order and institutionalization

• Sixteen Points of Order consumed 42 minutes. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• ANP parliamentarians continued boycott of the proceedings over the issuance of local government ordinance in Sindh.

Transparency

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

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a Member organization of FAFEN.