National Assembly: 20 Lawmakers Take Part in Budget Discussion

ISLAMABAD, June 13, 2016: The National Assembly continued the general discussion on the Budget 2016-17 for seventh day on Monday during ninth sitting of 33rd session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

  • The National Assembly met for four hours and 40 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1432 hours against the scheduled time 1430 hours.
  • The Deputy Speaker presided over the entire sitting as the Speaker was not present.
  • The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
  • The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and 27 minutes.
  • Twelve Federal Ministers were present while the Finance Minister was absent.
  • 28 MNAs (8%) were present at outset and 35 (1o%) at adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, AMLP, PML-Z, QWP-S and APML attended the sitting.
  • Eight minority members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • Twenty lawmakers – nine belonging to PML-N, five to PTI, two each to PPPP and MQM and one each to QWP-S and PkMAP – took part in the general discussion on Budget 2016-17 consuming four hours and 17 minutes.

Transparency

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

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