ISLAMABAD, June 29, 2021: The National Assembly passed the Finance Bill, 2021 on Tuesday with majority vote, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 18th sitting of the 34th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for five hours and 23 minutes.
• The proceedings started at 11:44 am against the scheduled time of 11:30 am.
• The speaker presided over the proceedings for two hours and four minutes, the deputy speaker for two hours and 55 minutes, while remaining sitting was chaired by a member of panel of chairpersons.
• The leader of the House (Prime Minister) attended the sitting for 52 minutes.
• The leader of the opposition did not attend the sitting.
• A total of 73 lawmakers (21 percent) were present at the outset and 159 (46 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, MQMP, ANP, PPPP, BAP, JWP, AMLP, PML and GDA attended the sitting.

 Output

• Moved by the Minister for Finance and Revenue, House passed a motion to consider the Finance Bill, 2021. One hundred and seventy-two (172) lawmakers voted in its favor of the motion and 138 lawmakers against it. Subsequently, the House passed the Finance Bill, 2021 with amendments.
• A PPPP lawmaker complained about the hasty passage of the bill as the Chair asked to consider amendments as `read’ instead of allowing mover to read them completely.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Minister for Finance and Revenue concluded the general discussion on the Finance Bill, 2021 consuming 12 minutes of the proceedings. Earlier, 11 lawmakers spoke on it for two hours and ten minutes.

 Order and Institutionalization

• The House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 11:30 am.

Transparency

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

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