ISLAMABAD, August 16, 2013: The National Assembly did not take up two calling attention notices on increase in electricity tariff and the floods during the third sitting of the fourth session on Friday.

After the Question Hour, the legislators discussed the Thursday’s incident of an armed stadoff on Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad. Out of the 17 questions on on the Orders of the Day, nine were taken up and answered by relevant ministers. Additionally, MNAs asked 19 supplimentary questions.

The sitting was chaired by the Speaker for an hour and 29 minutes while the remaining duration was presided by the Deputy Speaker. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were not present.

Following are some key observations of the proceedings:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for one hour and 35 minutes.
• The sitting started 30 minutes late at 1100 hours instead of the scheduled start time of 1030 hours.
• Seventy-four Members were present at the sitting’s start and 94 at the end. At one point, there were a maximum of 128 Members in the House.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for an hour and 29 minutes while the rest of the proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• Parliamentary Leaders of JI, PMLF and the PTI’s Deputy Parliamentary and the sole members of PMLZ and AMLP attended the proceedings.
• Twenty-five MNAs applied for leave.
• Seven minority Members were present.

Representation and Responsiveness

·         Out of the 17 starred questions on the agenda, nine were taken up and answered by the relevant Ministers. Lawmakers also asked 19 supplementary questions.

·         The house did not take up two Calling Attention Notices on the agenda. The notices were on increase in electricity tarriff from August 5, 2013 and floods in the country. The notices were directed to the Ministery for Water and Power and the Cabinet Secretariatre respectively.

·         A discussion on a Motion of Thanks on the Presidential address was put off.

Order and Institutionalization

• MNAs spoke on nine point of orders for 29 minutes.
• No incident of protest/walkout/ boycott was observed.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.  

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI); a member organization of FAFEN