ISLAMABAD, June 22, 2021: The National Assembly continued debate on the federal budget 2021-22 and consumed 95 percent of proceedings’ time on it, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Tuesday.

 Following are key observations of the proceedings during twelfth sitting of the 34th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for 12 hours and 43 minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 21 minutes due to prayer break.
• The proceedings started at 11:15 am against the scheduled time of 11:00 am.
• The speaker chaired the proceedings for 57 minutes, the deputy speaker for two hours and three minutes, while the remaining sitting was chaired by two members of panel of chairpersons.
• The leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• A total of 27 lawmakers (eight percent) were present at the outset and 14 (four percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of BAP and GDA attended the sitting.
• Seven out of ten minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• Fifty-two lawmakers participated in the debate on federal budget 2021-22 and consumed 12 hours and two minutes of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two lawmakers spoke on points of order for four minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 11:00 am.

Transparency

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

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 excepted