ISLAMABAD, August 13, 2015: The National Assembly passed one bill amid low attendance of lawmakers as the 24^th session was prorogued sine die on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network in its daily factsheet.

Only 24 legislators (7%) were present at the start and 85 (24%) at the time of adjournment of the sitting. The quorum was visibly lacking during the entire sitting, however it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers in the House.The continuous low attendance of the lawmakers is reflective of their lack of interest in House business.

The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 80 minutes. The low attendance sitting passed the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and also witnessed presentation of Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat’s report on the Patents (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

The House took up a CAN regarding delay in 7.5% increase for the National Bank’s pensioners in especially in rural areas, however, another CAN about discontinuation of health risk allowance by the government remained unaddressed.

The House did not discuss a Motion of Thanks to express gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to the joint session on June 4, 2015 while a Motion under Rule 259 regarding deaths in Sindh and other areas due to heat wave was also not taken up.

Some key observations are as follows:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 45 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1030 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting while the Opposition Leader was present for 80 minutes.
• Twenty-four members (7%) were present at the outset and 85 (24%) at the end of the sitting. As many as 111 lawmakers (32%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of AMLP and PkMAP attended the sitting.
• Six out of 10 minority members attended the sitting.
• Twenty-one members applied for leave.

Output

• Introduced by Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, the House passed the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat presented the report on the Patents (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up a CAN regarding delay in 7.5% increase for the National Bank’s pensioners in especially in rural areas, however, another CAN about discontinuation of health risk allowance by the government remained unaddressed.
• Seven out of 32 starred questions appearing on the agenda were taken up. Additionally, lawmakers raised 26 supplementary questions.
• The House did not discuss a Motion of Thanks to express gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to the joint session on June 4, 2015 while a Motion under Rule 259 regarding deaths in Sindh and other areas due to heat wave was also not taken up.

Order and Institutionalization

• Six Points of Order consumed 15 minutes of the sitting.
• The Opposition lawmakers staged a walkout for 15 minutes against the ministerial absence and treasury lawmakers’ low interest in House proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.

To download the factsheet, click here

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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 are excepted.