ISLAMABAD, August 8, 2011: The National Assembly met for only eight minutes during the 6^th sitting of the ongoing 33^rd session. The sitting was marked by low Members’ attendance, with only 33 Members present at the outset and 35 present when the sitting was adjourned.

The House did not debate on the Motion Under Rule 259 regarding the law and order situation prevailing the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta.

The Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and other Parliamentary Leaders were not present during the sitting.

Following are some key observations of the Parliamentary Business

Members’ participation in House proceedings

• The National Assembly met for only eight minutes.
• The sixth sitting started at 1345 Hours against the scheduled starting time of 1300 hours. The House proceedings started late by 45 minutes.
• The sitting was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, while the Speaker was not present.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the proceedings of the sixth sitting.
• None of the Parliamentary Leaders were present during the brief sitting.
• The Chief Whips of PPPP, PMLN, ANP and MQM were present, while the chief whips of MMAP, PML, PMLF, BNPA and NPP were absent.
• A total of 33 (9%) members were present at the outset of the sitting, while 35 (10%) members at the end of the sitting.
• A total two out of 10 minority members were present during the 6^thsitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• There were no Calling Attention Notices listed on the Orders of the Day.
• The House did not debate on the Motion Under Rule 259 regarding the law and order situation prevailing in the country, particularly in Karachi and Quetta.

Output

• There were no Bills on the Orders of the Day.

Order and institutionalization

• A total of three Points of Order were raised, consuming three minutes of the sitting. However, none of the Points of Orders raised by Members attracted Speaker’s ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, walkouts or boycotts during the sixth sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Members’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.
• The Quorum was visibly lacking at various stages during the sitting. However, lack of quorum was not pointed out by any of the Members of the National Assembly.

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of the Senate proceedings conducted by Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a member organization of FAFEN