ISLAMABAD, May 28, 2019: The National Assembly witnessed introduction of four private members’ bills on Tuesday and referred all of them to the relevant Standing Committees for further consideration, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during third sitting of the 10^th   session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 13 minutes.
• The proceedings started at 1419 hours against the scheduled time of 1400 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of the Speaker.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 60 lawmakers (18%) were present at the outset and 77 (23%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, ANP, PPPP and BNP attended the sitting.
• Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output 

• The House witnessed introduction of four private members’ bills which were the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Section 329A); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019] (Article 25); the Federal Newborn Screening Bill, 2019 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2019. All these bills were referred to the committees for further consideration.
• The House rejected a motion to introduce the Minorities Access to the Higher Education Bill, 2019.
• The Chair deferred the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article 239) while the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was not taken up due to the absence of the mover.
• The House did not consider four other Private Members’ Bills, a report of the Standing Committee on Interior, Amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly 2007, five resolutions and as many motions under Rule 259 and  debate on matters of urgent public importance under Rule 87.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Parliamentary Secretaries for National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination and Federal Education & Professional Training responded to two Calling Attention Notices regarding lack of medical facilities in rural parts of Islamabad and 51 percent proposed cut in the budget of the Higher Education Commission.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Eleven lawmakers spoke on points of order for an hour and eight minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on May 31, 2019 (Friday) at 1030 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