ISLAMABAD, February 6, 2015: The National Assembly continued to witness low attendance on Friday as only 27 (8%) lawmakers were present at the start and 18 (5%) at the end of the fourth sitting of the ongoing session.

The quorum was visibly lacking during the entire sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers. The Leader of the House and Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.

The Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the Islamabad Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal Bill 2015 which was referred to the relevant standing committee.

Two calling attention notices (CANs) regarding discontinuation of 650MW electricity to K-Electric and the government’s failure to eliminate poverty through the Benazir Income Support Programme were left unaddressed.

In addition, two motions under Rule 259 to debate the recent petrol crisis and problems being faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) were also not taken up.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 41 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1100 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The sitting was entirely chaired by the Speaker.
• The Deputy Speaker attended the sitting for 30 minute.
• The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader were absent.
• Only 27 (8%) lawmakers were present at the start and 18 (5%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 78 (23%) MNAs attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-Z, QWP, JI and APML were present.
• Five out of 10 minority members attended the sitting.
• Twenty-five members applied for leave.

Output

• The Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights introduced the Islamabad Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal Bill 2015 which was referred to the relevant standing committee.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Nine out of 32 starred questions appearing on Orders of the Day were taken up and responded by the relevant ministry. In addition, the MNAs raised eight supplementary questions during the sitting.
• Two calling attention notices (CANs) regarding discontinuation of 650MW electricity to K-Electric and the government’s failure to eliminate poverty through the Benazir Income Support Programme were left unaddressed during the sitting.
• Two motions under Rule 259 to debate the recent petrol crisis and problems being faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) were also not taken up.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eight points of order consumed 23 minutes of the proceedings’ time.

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.

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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.