ISLAMABAD, May 10, 2019: The National Assembly, on Friday, held a debate on the proposed constitutional amendment seeking to increase the representation of newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in National and KP Assemblies, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in the Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 13^th sitting of the ninth session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for an hour and 49 minutes.
•  The proceedings started at 1038 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 35 lawmakers (10%) were present at the outset and 152 (44%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, PML, GDA, PPPP and BAP attended the sitting.
• As many as seven out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• The House held a debate on motion for consideration of the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2019. Eleven lawmakers participated in the debate consuming an hour and 16 minutes. The bill proposes amendments in Article 51 and 106 to increase the number of seats for erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It was introduced on April 23, 2019 by an independent lawmaker and was recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Justice.

• The House adopted a motion to reserve the next sitting for private members’ business.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) about government’s action for release of ninety fishermen facing imprisonment in India fort the last ten years.
• The House deferred a CAN regarding security arrangements for educational institutions of non-Muslim community due to absence of the relevant minister.
• The Minister for Interior responded to one out of 34 Starred Questions while the remaining proceeding of Question Hour was suspended for holding a debate on the legislation. The lawmakers also asked two supplementary questions.
• The House did not take up a Motion under Rule 259 and Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to the Parliament.

Order and Institutionalization

• The Chair adjourned the House to meet again on May 13, 2019 (Monday) at 1200 hours.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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