ISLAMABAD, June 25, 2015: The National Assembly continued to debate the ongoing energy crisis in the country on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The sitting started 12 minutes behind the schedule with 18 lawmakers (5% of the total membership) present at the start and 107 (31%) at the time of adjournment. The Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and the Finance Minister were not present during the sitting.

Twelve lawmakers spoke on the power crisis for 117 minutes, while Minister for Water and Power – who had initiated the debate earlier on Wednesday – spoke on it for another 58 minutes.

The House also passed a motion moved by the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to continue the debate during the next session.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for three hours and 23 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1012 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 64 minutes.
• The remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• 18 members (5%) were present at the start and 107 (31%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 160 members (47%) attended the proceedings.
• The Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and the Finance Minister were not present.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI, AMLP, QWP, APML and ANP were present.
• Nine minority members attended the proceedings.
• Eleven members applied for leave.

Output

• Three reports on the Islamabad Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal Bill 2015, the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the National University of Medical Sciences Bill 2015 were presented during the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Twelve lawmakers – three from PPPP, two each from PTI and MQM and one each from APML, JUI-F, AMLP, JI and PkMAP – spoke on the energy crisis for 117 minutes. The Minister for Water and Power shared his views on the issue for 58 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers raised seven points or order that consumed 12 minutes of the sitting.

Transparency

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

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This 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. Errors and omissions are excepted.