National Assembly leaves entire agenda unaddressed

ISLAMABAD, July 19, 2021:  The National Assembly did not take up any agenda item on Monday and was adjourned after expressing condolence over the death of former Governor Sindh Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during seventh sitting of the 35th session:

Members’ Participation

  • The National Assembly met for nine minutes.
  • The sitting started at 10:16 am against the scheduled time of 10:00 am.
  • The deputy speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of speaker.
  • The leaders of the house (Prime Minister) and the opposition did not attend the sitting.
  • As many as 26 (8 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 39 (11 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
  • Two minority lawmakers were present.

 Output

  • The House did not consider two government bills including the Civil Unmanned Aircraft System Bill, 2021 and the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
  • Two reports of Standing Committees and a statutory report were not taken up.

Representation and Responsiveness

  • The House neither observed question hour nor debated a motion of thanks to president for his address to Parliament.
  • Two calling attention notices on the agenda also remained unaddressed.

Order and Institutionalization

  • The House offered prayers for former Governor Sindh Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto who passed away on July 18, 2021.
  • The House was adjourned to meet again on Friday, July 30, 2021 at 04:00 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