ISLAMABAD, January 3, 2020: The Minister for Defence introduced three bills in the National Assembly on Friday seeking to amend the procedures for appointment and extension of armed forces’ chiefs and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, observes Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the third sitting of 18^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1159 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 133 (39%) were present at the outset and 175 (51%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML-N and BAP attended the sitting.
• Six out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• The Minister for Defence tabled the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020; Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The House referred the bills to the Standing Committee on Defence for review and recommendations. These amendments seek to elaborate the appointment, reappointment and extension procedures of Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Moved by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, the House approved a motion to suspend the Question Hour.

 Order and Institutionalization

• A PML-N lawmaker spoke on a Point of Order for one minute and demanded the Chair to issue production orders of detained MNAs.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on January 4, 2020 (Saturday) at 1100 hours.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of the lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted