ISLAMABAD, January 5, 2015: Starting an hour and five minutes behind the schedule, the fourth sitting of the National Assembly’s 17th session on Monday was marked by a debate on the 21st Constitution Amendment Bill, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Bill, 2015 that was discussed by eight lawmakers for two hours and 38 minutes.

The Interior Minister opened the debate on and spoke for 46 minutes, followed by seven other lawmakers belonging to JUI-F (33 minutes), MQM (28 minutes), PkMAP (16 minutes), JI and PML-Z (11 minutes each) and PML-F (three minutes). In addition, an independent lawmaker discussed the bill for 10 minutes. Eight lawmakers from FATA staged a walkout to express their reservations with the amendment bill.

State Minster for Parliamentary Affairs moved a motion to suspend the agenda on Tuesday to continue the debate on the bill which was passed by the House. Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for three hours and 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1705 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and five minutes.
• The House observed a prayer break of 28 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting. The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 72 minutes, while the Opposition Leader was present for an hour and 55 minutes.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, PML, PML-F, APML, QWP, MQM, JI, JUI-F, PML-Z and ANP attended the sitting.
• Two hundred and eight members (61%) were present at the outset and 29 (9%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 234 members (69%) were seen at one point of the sitting.
• Seven minority members attended the sitting.
• Twelve members applied for leave.

Output

• Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Bill, 2015 that was discussed by the eight lawmakers for two hours and 38 minutes.
• The Interior Minister opened the debate on this bill and spoke for 46 minutes, followed by seven other lawmakers belonging to JUI-F (33 minutes), MQM (28 minutes), PkMAP (16 minutes), JI and PML-Z (11 minutes each) and PML-F (three minutes). In addition, an independent lawmaker discussed the bill for 10 minutes.

 Order and Institutionalization

• State Minster for Parliamentary Affairs moved a motion to suspend the agenda on Tuesday to continue the debate on the bill which was passed by the House.
• Eight lawmakers from FATA staged a walkout at 1747 hours to express their reservations with the bill and did not return to the House till the sitting’s adjournment.

Transparency

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

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. 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.