National Assembly Adjourned due to Lack of Quorum

ISLAMABAD, August 9, 2017: The National Assembly could not address its business on Wednesday due to lack of quorum, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

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

 Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for 32 minutes of which the sitting remained suspended for 23 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 1102 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
  • The Speaker presided over the sitting.
  • The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 37 (11%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 45 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP and ANP attended the sitting.
  • Two minority lawmakers were present.

Output

  • The House did not take up the legislative business appearing on the Order of the Day.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House did not hold the Question Hour.
  • The Calling Attention Notices appearing on the Order of the Day were also left unaddressed.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1110 hours which led to suspension of the sitting for 23 minutes. However, the quorum was found incomplete on resumption of the proceedings and the sitting was adjourned.

Transparency

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

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