ISLAMABAD, March 27, 2015: The National Assembly’s 20th session was prorogued as the ninth sitting concluded without addressing any agenda item on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

The agenda included four ordinances, two legislative bills, two calling attention notices, three standing committee reports and a motion to debate the recent petrol crisis.

The sitting started five minutes behind the schedule with 27 lawmakers (8%) present at the start and 40 (12%) at the time of adjournment. The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers.

The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for almost 50% of the proceedings’ time.

Following are some of the key observations from the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 14 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the entire sitting, while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for one hour and eight minutes.
• 27 lawmakers (8%) were present at the start and 40 (12%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 117 members (34%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, APML, MQM, BNP, ANP and QWP were present.
• Eight minority members attended the sitting.
• 37 members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Twelve out of 38 questions were taken up and responded by the relevant ministries/departments. In addition, the MNAs raised 13 supplementary questions during the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five points of orders (POs) consumed 60 minutes (45%) of the sitting.
• No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.
• The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers.

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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 in no way 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