ISLAMABAD, May 21, 2021: The National Assembly transacted 82 percent agenda on Friday and witnessed introduction of two government bills including the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during third sitting of 33^rd session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 29 minutes.
• The sitting started at 11:27 am against the scheduled time of 11:00 am.
• The speaker did not attend the sitting.
• The deputy speaker chaired the sitting for 30 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by a member of panel of chairpersons.
• The leaders of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
• The leader of the opposition was present for 23 minutes.
• As many as 66 (19 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 34 (10 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML and GDA attended the sitting.
• Five out of ten minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs laid the Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 and the Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
• The House witnessed introduction of two government bills which were the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021 and the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Both bills were referred to relevant committees for further deliberation.
• Chairman Standing Committee on Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture presented four reports of the Committee on as many as legislative proposals.
• The Chair deferred the consideration of a government bill, two calling attention notices and a motion of thanks to the President.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up 10 out 15 starred questions while lawmakers asked 16 supplementary questions as well.

 Order and Institutionalization

• Seven lawmakers spoke on points of order for 16 minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, May 24, 2021 at 04:00 pm.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of the lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website.

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This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions excepted