• The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill remained unaddressed

ISLAMABAD, March 28, 2012: Starting 63 minutes behind schedule, the Joint Sitting of the Parliament met for two hours and 16 minutes on Wednesday.

Out of the 246 legislators attending the sitting, only four legislators – two each of the Senate and National Assembly – spoke on the report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security for 47 minutes (35% of sitting time).

The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2009 and the Modaraba Companies and Modaraba (Floatation and Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2009 remained unaddressed.

A total of 123 (from both the Houses) Legislators were present at the start while 118 were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 246 Members were present during one point of the sitting.

Only the Parliamentary Leaders of the NPP, MMAP and PPPS attended the proceedings.

Legislators’ participation in Parliament proceedings

• The Joint Sitting met for two hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1803 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The proceedings started late by an hour and three minutes.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the sitting for eight minutes while the remaining time was presided over by the Speaker.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• Only the parliamentary leaders of the MMAP, NPP and PPPS were present while those of the ANP, PML, PMLF, BNPA and MMAP were absent.
• The Chief Whips of the PPPP, PMLN, MMAP, MQM, ANP, PML and PMLF were present.
• A total of 123 legislators were present at the start and 118 at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 246 Members were present during one point of the sitting.

Representation and Responsiveness

• No Calling Attention Notices appeared on the Orders of the Day

Parliamentary Output

• Two Bills appearing on the Agenda were not taken up by the House
• Four Legislators – two PPPP and one MMAP and Independent Member each – spoke on the report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security for 47 minutes.

Order and institutionalization

• Eight Points of Order consumed 39 minutes (29%) of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order raised attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• There were no instances of protests, boycotts or walkouts during the sitting.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day were available to legislators, observers and others.
• Information on Legislators’ attendance was unavailable to observers and the public.

 

The Daily Factsheet is based on direct observation of National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), a Member organization of FAFEN.