ISLAMABAD, May 10, 2010: The Sixth sitting of the 22^nd session was marked by suspension of routine agenda for debate on the Presidential Address. Besides taking up a Bill relatively well-attended sitting discussed President’s Address for 120 minutes, reports the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Sixth Sitting of 22^nd Session of the National Assembly Proceedings.

The following are some key observations of the Parliamentary Business:

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The National Assembly met for 02 hours and 52 minutes.
• The Sixth sitting started at 1734 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The House proceedings started late by 34 minutes.
• The Speaker of the House was not present during the sitting and the entire sitting was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 80 minutes, while the Leader of the Opposition remained present in the House for 98 minutes.
• Parliamentary leaders of PML, PPPS and PMLF were present while the leaders of MQM, ANP, NPP, MMAP, and BNPA were absent.
• The Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN, MQM, PPPS, ANP, MMAP, PML and PMLF were present, while the chief whips of NPP and BNPA were absent.
• Eight members appealed for leave to be absent from the sitting.
• A total of 81 members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 110 members at the end of the sitting.
• The House observed a prayer break of 38 minutes.

Representation and Responsiveness

• There were 2 Calling Attention Notices on the Orders of the Day. None of them were taken up by the House.
• There was no question hour in sixth sitting as the routine agenda was suspended by the Deputy Speaker for debate on Presidential Address.
• The Opposition Leader and two other PML members spoke on Presidential Address for 120 minutes.

Output

• “The Islamabad High Court Bill, 2010” was introduced and subsequently passed by the House. 

Order and institutionalization

• There were 4 Points of Orders raised during the sitting, which consumed 24 minutes of the proceedings.
• There was no Adjournment Motion on the Orders of the Day.
• There was no instance of walkout or boycott during the sitting

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN