ISLAMABAD, January 19, 2018: The National Assembly constituted a Special Committee on Friday to suggest legal solutions for prevention of the incidents of child abuse, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during sixth sitting of the 51^st Session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 41 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1040 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and two minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the proceedings.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 39 (11%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 45 (13%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, APML, BNP-A, QWP, PML-Z and AJIP attended the sitting.
• Four minority members were present.

Output

• The House did not take up the reports appearing on the agenda.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding increasing incidents of land-mines explosion in South Waziristan Agency. Another CAN about inaccessibility of potable water to 80% Pakistanis was not addressed.
• Moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the House adopted a motion under Rule 244 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007 for constituting a Special Committee to review child abuse cases and suggest legal remedies and preventive measures. The Committee was given 30 days to submit its report to the House.
• The House took up eight out of 25 Starred Questions for answers during the proceedings. The lawmakers asked 22 Supplementary Questions as well.

Order and Institutionalization

• A lawmaker spoke on a Point of Order for one minute.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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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 are excepted