• Domestic Violence Bill Remained Unaddressed

ISLAMABAD, April 10, 2012: Starting an hour behind schedule, the Joint Sitting of the Parliament met for two hours and 14 minutes on Tuesday.

Out of the 195 legislators attending the sitting, only one spoke on the report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security for 15 minutes.

The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2009 remained unaddressed.

Twelve Points of Order consumed 59% of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order raised attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.

A total of 72 (from both the Houses) Legislators were present at the start while 125 were there when the sitting was adjourned. A maximum of 195 Members were present during one point of the sitting.

None of the parliamentary leaders attended the proceedings.

Legislators’ participation in Parliament proceedings

• The Joint Sitting met for two hours and 14 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1800 hours against the scheduled starting time of 1700 hours. The proceedings started late by an hour.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 22 minutes while the remaining time was presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• None of the parliamentary leaders attended the sitting.
• The Chief Whips of the PPPP, PMLN, MMAP, MQM, ANP, PML and PMLF were present.
• A total of 72 legislators were present at the start and 125 at the end of the sitting. A maximum of 195 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

• The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2009 was not taken up by the House.
• A female Member of the PPPP spoke on the report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security for 15 minutes.

Order and institutionalization

• Twelve Points of Order consumed 79 minutes (59%) of the sitting time. However, none of the Points of Order raised attracted the Chair’s formal ruling.
• The sitting witnessed a protest by PMLN Members against the comments made by an ANP Senator. The protest lasted three minutes.

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.