NA Defers Agenda after Charsadda Attack

ISLAMABAD, January 20, 2016: The National Assembly deferred its most of agenda to discuss the attack on Bacha Khan University Charsadda on Wednesday during fourteenth sitting of 28th session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The National Assembly met for four hours and 16 minutes while the proceeding remained suspended for one and a half hour.
  • The sitting started at 1034 hours against its scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 35 minutes.
  • Thirteen Federal Ministers attended the sitting.
  • 28 MNAs (8%) were present at outset and 88 (26%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, PML-Z, APML and AMLP were present.
  • Five minority members were present.

Output

  • The House deferred the consideration of two bills and presentation of three reports.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The Parliamentary Secretary for Interior & Narcotics Control made a statement on a Calling Attention Notice regarding not mentioning the addresses on the Machine Readable Passport.
  • The House took up five out of 35 starred questions appearing on the agenda. The members asked six supplementary questions as well.
  • The government provided written replies to only seven out of 23 unstarred questions.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Twenty-one lawmakers spoke on Points of Order for an hour and 45 minutes. They discussed the absence of government officials during question hour and the attack on Bacha Khan University Charsadda.
  • Speaker suspended the proceeding of the House twice, first time for 20 minutes due to absence of officials during question hour and second time for 70 minutes in wake of Charsadda attack.

Transparency

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

 To download the factsheet, click here for English version – Click here for Urdu version


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