ISLAMABAD, April 22, 2019: The National Assembly took up most of its agenda and unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn terror attacks in Sri Lanka, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of the ninth session:

Members’ Participation

• The House met for two hours and 47 minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 24 minutes.
• The proceedings started at 1641 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leader of the House and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 35 lawmakers (10%) were present at the outset and 143 (42%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of ANP, MQMP, PPPP, BAP, PML-N, GDA, PML, MMAP and BNP-M attended the sitting.
• As many as six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output  

• The House unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn terrorist attacks at Churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed hundreds of people.  It was moved by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.
• Tabled by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House adopted a resolution to grant extension to the Elections (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 for a further period of one hundred and twenty days with effect from May 1, 2019.
• Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination laid the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 2019.
• Minister of State for Revenue introduced the Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which were referred to the relevant committee for further deliberation.
• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs introduced the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which was also referred to the relevant committee for consideration.
• The House witnessed presentation of three reports by the Standing Committees on as many legislative proposals including the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Heavy Industries Taxila Board (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
• Minister of State for Revenue laid  the second Quarterly Report of the Board of Directors of State Bank of Pakistan on the state of the Economy for the year 2018-19 and the Annual report of the Competition Commission of Pakistan certified by the auditors for the year ended 2013 and 2014.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) of a PTI lawmaker regarding damage caused to the crops due to recent rains in the country.
• Another CAN about recent increase in the prices of petroleum products was not taken up by the House.
• The House did not take up a motion under Rule 259 about energy situation in the country and a motion of thanks about Presidential Address to both Houses of Parliament.
• The House took up 15 out of 48 Starred Questions while one question was deferred on the government’s request. The lawmakers also asked 21 supplementary questions.
• The House observed one minute silence to express solidarity with victims of terror attacks in Sri Lanka.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Two lawmakers including Minister for Parliamentary Affairs spoke on as many points of order for three minutes.
• Seven lawmakers raised as many matters under Rule 18 and spoke for 20 minutes.
• A PPPP lawmaker spoke on a point of personal explanation for 15 minutes.
• The Opposition lawmakers protested on floor of the House for two  minutes during the speech of Minister for Power Division on a political issue following which the Chair suspended the proceedings for 24 minutes.
• They again protested for three minutes when the proceedings resumed.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on April 23, 2019 (Tuesday) at 1100 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.