ISLAMABAD, April 13, 2016: The National Assembly passed three government bills on Wednesday during 4^th sitting of ongoing 31^st session, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for five hours and two minutes.
• The sitting started six minutes late against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for 30 minutes while rest of the proceeding was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for 144 minutes.
• The Speaker suspended the sitting for 10 minutes over absence of relevant ministers to respond the questions during Question Hour.
• Seven Cabinet Members were present.
• 22 MNAs (7%) were present at outset and 20 (6%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, ANP, JI, QWP, APML, PML-Z and JUI-F were present.
• Six minority members were present.

Output

• The House passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, 2015, the Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Foreigners (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Eleven lawmakers spoke on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, 2015 for 57 minutes.
• Parliamentary Secretary for Finance presented the Second Quarterly Report for the year, 2015-16 of the Central Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan on the state of Pakistan’s Economy.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The government orally replied to 11 out of 36 starred questions appearing on the agenda. The lawmakers asked 17 supplementary questions as well.
• The government responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding non-increase in the salaries of the employees of Pakistan Steel Mills for the last seven years and misappropriation from their General Provident and Gratuity Funds. Another CAN about increase in poverty and living standards of sixty million people below the poverty line in the country was not taken up by the House.

 Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers spoke on three points of order consuming eight minutes of the proceeding.

Transparency

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

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