NA Meets for 12 Hrs, 33 Mins; 43 Lawmakers Debate Annual Budget

ISLAMABAD, June 24, 2019: The National Assembly continued general discussion on federal budget 2019-20 on Monday and 43 lawmakers participated in debate on it, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 11th sitting of the 11th NA session:

Members’ Participation

  • The House met for 12 hours and 33 minutes; however, it took prayer break for an hour and nine minutes and a casual break for an hour and 26 minutes. 
  • The proceedings started at 1123 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and 49 minutes, Deputy Speaker for two hours and seven minutes while rest of the proceedings was chaired by two members of Panel of Chairpersons.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 13 minutes.
  • A total of 36 lawmakers (11%) were present at the outset and 28 (8%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, ANP, PPPP, MMAP and BNP attended the sitting.
  • Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

  Representation and Responsiveness

  • Forty-three lawmakers took part in the general discussion on the federal budget for the year 2019-20. The discussion consumed nine  hours and 34 minutes of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

  • Three lawmakers spoke on points of order for five minutes.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on June 25, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1400 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