NA Condemns US Decision to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital 

ISLAMABAD, December 7, 2017: The National Assembly, on Thursday, unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel , observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the 50th session:

 Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for three hours and 21 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 29 minutes due to prayer break.
  • The sitting started at 1626 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 49 minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 66 (19%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 35 (10%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PkMAP, JI, QWP-S, BNP-M, PML-F, PML-Z , ANP and APML attended the sitting.
  • Five minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • Tabled by the Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, the House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. Twelve lawmakers also debated this resolution for an hour 56 minutes.
  • The House did not take up the legislative business, calling attention notices, reports and motion of thanks appearing on the agenda.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • As many as four out of 32 Starred Questions were taken up for answers during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked 12 supplementary questions as well.

Transparency

  • ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
  • Information on Members’ attendance is available on the National Assembly website.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly’s proceedings, conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted