President Addresses the Joint Sitting of Parliament

ISLAMABAD, August 20, 2020: The President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi addressed both Houses of the Parliament assembled together on beginning of the third parliamentary year of the National Assembly amidst opposition’s protest against the government on Thursday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation

• The joint session lasted 39 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1709 hours against the scheduled time of 1700 hours.
• The proceedings started with the national anthem followed by the recitation of the Holy Quran, Na’at and Hadith.
• The sitting was chaired by the National Assembly Speaker.
• The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly was also present.
• The Senate Chairman attended the sitting while the Deputy Chairman Senate was also present.
• The Prime Minister attended the entire sitting.
• The National Assembly’s Opposition Leader was not present.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition in the Senate attended the entire sitting.
• Three hundred and forty-one lawmakers (76% of the total membership – 446) were present at the start of the sitting and 254 (57%) at the time of adjournment.
• The parliamentary leaders of JI, JUI-F, PkMAP, ANP, PML-N, MQM and PPPP in the Senate were present.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMA, MQM, BAP, PML-N, PPPP and GDA in the National Assembly were present.
• Seven minority lawmakers in the National Assembly and two in Senate attended the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The President addressed the joint sitting for 28 minutes to mark the advent of the third parliamentary year.

Order and Institutionalization

• The lawmakers belonging to opposition parties in the Senate and the National Assembly staged an in-House protest during speech of the President. However, they walked out of the House at 1724 hours and did not return till adjournment of sitting.

Transparency

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

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

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