ISLAMABAD, December 6, 2013: Meeting only for a short span of time, the 2^nd sitting of the ongoing 7^th session of the National Assembly offered condolences on the death of former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on Friday.

The House left the regular agenda appearing on the Orders of the Day unaddressed and adopted a Supplementary Resolution paying tributes to the services of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

During the sitting, the House also offered fateha for the deceased soul of former Federal Minister, Syed Amir Haider Kazmi, who died on December 5.

The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Leader of the Opposition was there for eight minutes.

Following are some key observations of the Parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for 15 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1045 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours, witnessing a delay of 15 minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the proceedings.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for eight minutes.
• Only the Parliamentary leaders of PkMAP and AMLP were present.
• Thirty-eight Members (11% of the total current membership – 340) were present at the outset while 67 (20%) were there at the adjournment of sitting.
• Two Minority Members attended the sitting.
• None of the Members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• 45 starred questions on the agenda were not taken up by the house.
• Tabled by the Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, the House adopted a Resolution to pay tributes to the services of Nelson Mandela.

• The House also offered fateha for former Federal Minister, Syed Amir Haider Kazmi, who passed away on December 5.

Order and Institutionalization

• Members spoke on three Points of Order for seven minutes. However, none of the Points of Order attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was not available to observers and the public.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. This Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI); a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted