ISLAMABAD, August 8, 2017: The National Assembly referred six Private Members’ bills to relevant standing committees following their first reading in the House while three bills were not granted leave for introduction on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are key observations of the proceedings during fourth sitting of the 44^th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for three hours and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1056 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 56 (16%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 78 (23%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, ANP, APML and QWP-S attended the sitting.
• Six minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• The House referred the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (moved by PTI lawmaker), the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (moved by JUI-F lawmaker), the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2017, the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Article 5) to the relevant standing committees.
• The House did not grant the leave to introduce the Islamabad Examination Commission for Elementary Education Bill, 2017, the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Gas (Theft Control and Recovery) (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
• The House deferred the introduction of the Compulsory Drug Test of Students Bill, 2017, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment in Article 160), Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment in Article 198) and the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
• The Publication of Laws of Pakistan Bill, 2017 was withdrawn by the movers while the Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2017 and the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2017 were not taken up due to absence of the movers.
• The House also deferred the consideration of the Acid and Burn Crime Bill, 2014 on request of the government.
• The reports of the standing committees on the Protection of Minorities Bill, 2016, the Prevention of Mal-practices in Academia Bill, 2016, the Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities (Regulation of Fee) Bill, 2016, the General Statistics (Reorganization) (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014 (moved by MQM lawmaker), the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2015, the Suppression of Terrorist Activities (Special Courts) (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014 (moved by PML-N lawmaker) and the Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2014 were presented in the House.
• The House did not take up the resolutions appearing on the Order of the Day.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice regarding the government’s policy to refuse allotment of government accommodation to the employees of constitutional bodies. Another CAN appearing on the Orders of the Day was not taken up due to absence of the movers.
• The House did not address the Motions under Rule 259.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on 18 Points of Order consuming an hour and eight minutes of the proceedings.
• The MQM lawmakers announced a walkout against the arrest of their party workers in Karachi, however, the sitting was adjourned immediately after their announcement.
• A PTI lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1258 hours but it was found complete on headcount.

Transparency

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

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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