ISLAMABAD, June 2, 2017: The National Assembly on Friday resumed the general discussion on Budget 2017-2018 amid walkout of the opposition parties for not airing their budget speeches on the state-run television, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during seventh sitting of the 43^rd session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 18 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1148 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and seven minutes while the rest of proceedings were chaired by a Member of Panel of Chairpersons.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition attended the proceedings for 31 minutes.
• One hundred and forty eight lawmakers (43%) were present at the outset and 92 (27%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, AMLP, PkMAP, PPPP and QWP-S attended the sitting.
• Eight minority lawmakers were also present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• A PML-N female lawmaker took part in the general discussion on Budget 2017-2018, consuming 16 minutes of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

• The Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Water and Power spoke on two Points of Order, consuming 52 minutes of the proceedings.
• The entire opposition led by Leader of the Opposition walked out of the House at 1219 hours for not telecasting the speeches of opposition lawmakers on the state-run television. They did not return to the House until the adjournment of sitting.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Information on members’ attendance is available on National Assembly website.

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