ISLAMABAD, June 17, 2021: The National Assembly formally initiated debate on the Federal Budget 2021-22 after adjournment of last three sittings due to confrontation between the treasury and the opposition benches, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Thursday.

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

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for seven hours and two minutes, however, the proceedings remained suspended 56 minutes due to prayer breaks.
• The proceedings started at 02:30 pm against the scheduled time of 12:00 pm.
• The speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The deputy speaker was not present.
• The leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
• The opposition leader remained present for two hours and 20 minutes during the proceedings.
• A total of 70 lawmakers (20 percent) were present at the outset and 18 (five percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, BAP, PML and GDA attended the sitting.
• Seven out of ten minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

 Output

• The speaker sought nominations from the opposition parties for parliamentary Committee which would review their concerns on legislative business completed on June 10, 2021.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The leader of the opposition concluded his budget speech and spoke for two hours and 16 minutes.  Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives responded to budget speech of the opposition leader and spoke for an hour and 13 minutes.
• Eleven other lawmakers also participated in debate on the federal budget and spoke for two hours and 20 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• A PPPP lawmaker spoke on a point of order for four minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, June 18, 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