National Assembly leaves 90 percent agenda unaddressed

ISLAMABAD, November 12, 2021: The National Assembly left 90 percent agenda unaddressed on Friday amidst absence of the leaders of the House and the opposition, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the fifth sitting of the 38th session:

 Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for an hour and 15 minutes.
  • The sitting started at 11:14 am against the scheduled time of 10:30 am.
  • The speaker chaired the entire sitting.
  • The deputy speaker was not present.
  • The leaders of the house (Prime Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 71 (21 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 114 (33 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • Parliamentary leader of PML-N attended the sitting.
  • Five minority lawmakers were present.

 Output

  • The House did not consider two government bills, four reports of standing committees and two statutory reports.

 Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House took up ten out of 41 starred questions while the lawmakers asked 18 supplementary questions.
  • Minister of state for parliamentary affairs responded to a calling attention notice (CAN) regarding closure of National Bank of Pakistan’s Branch in Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan.
  • The House did not consider another CAN and a motion of thanks to the President for his address to the Parliament on September 13, 2021.

Order and Institutionalization

  • A PTI lawmaker spoke on a point of order for one minute.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday, November 15, 2021 at 05:00 pm.

Transparency

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

 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