ISLAMABAD, November 26, 2014: With the presence of 52 (15%) lawmakers at the outset and 63 (19%) at the adjournment, the National Assembly took up two calling attention notices (CANs) during its first sitting of the 16^th session on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network in its daily factsheet based on direct observation of the proceedings.

Sponsored by two female PML-N legislators, the House took up a CAN regarding problems faced by government employees in receiving their pensions. The second CAN, moved by five PPPP lawmakers, was related to a suspected case of Ebola in Faisalabad.

The Speaker presided over the entire sitting, while the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and the Deputy Speaker were not present. A panel of chairpersons was announced for the current session.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 24 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1723 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours, witnessing a delay of an hour and 23 minutes.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting, while Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PkMAP, APML, JI, PML-Z, JUI-F, QWP and PML-F were present in the sitting.
• Fifty-two members (15%) were present at the outset while 63 (19%) were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 148 members were seen present at one point of the sitting.
• Six non-Muslim members attended the sitting.
• Five members applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up nine out of 36 starred questions (requiring oral as well as written replies) while the members also raised 11 supplementary questions.
• Sponsored by two female PML-N legislators, the House took up a CAN regarding problems faced by government employees in receiving their pensions.
• The second CAN was related to a suspected case of Ebola in Faisalabad and was moved by five PPPP lawmakers including three female legislators and a non-Muslim member.

Order and Institutionalization

• Lawmakers spoke on 29 points of order for 60 minutes.
• No protests, walkouts or boycotts were witnessed in the sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to observers or 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 can in no way be taken to 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.