ISLAMABAD, March 11, 2013: The National Assembly, which met for two hours and 41 minutes in the 16^th sitting of 50^th session, unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the Badami Bagh incident; demanding the judicial enquiry of the incident and compensation for the victims.

The MQM members staged a token walkout over the Badami Bagh incidence.

The Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 was laid before the House and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2013 was introduced.

The sitting was marked by low attendance. Only 58 members were present at the start and 51 at the time of adjournment, when the sitting was adjourned for want of quorum.

The sitting was chaired by a member of the Panel of Chairpersons as both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were not present. The Prime Minister and the parliamentary leaders of MMAP, ANP, PML, PMLF, PPPS, NPP and BNPA did not attend the sitting. The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for three minutes.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

 

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 41 minutes. There was a 26-minute prayer break.
• The sitting started at 1752 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 52 minutes.
• A member of the Panel of Chairpersons chaired the entire sitting. Both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were not present.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for three minutes.

• The parliamentary leader of only MQM attended the sitting whereas those of MMAP, ANP, PML, PMLF, PPPS, NPP and BNPA were absent.

• The chief whips of PPPP, PMLN, ANP, and PML attended the sitting whereas those of MQM, MMAP, PMLF, and BNPA were not present.
• Fifty-eight members were present at the outset while 51 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 104 members were present at one point of sitting.
• Six minority members attended the sitting.
  

 

Representation and Responsiveness

• The Questions Hour was not held.

 

Output

• The Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 laid before he House.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2013 was introduced.
• The House unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the Badami Bagh incident, demanding the judicial enquiry of the incident and compensation for the victims. It was sponsored by a PML minority member.

 

Order and Institutionalization

• Nineteen points of order consumed an hour and 50 minutes of the sitting time.
• The MQM members staged a token walkout over the Badami Bagh incidence.
• A PMLN member pointed out the quorum which led to adjournment of the sitting as the required number of members for the House business were not present.

 

Transparency

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