ISLAMABAD, April 20, 2015: The first sitting of 21th session of National Assembly witnessed introduction of three bills and presentation of six ordinances on Monday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet.

State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs presented the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Ordinance 2015, the Countervailing Duties Ordinance 2015, the Anti-dumping Duties Ordinance 2015, the National Tariff Commission Ordinance 2015, the General Election 2013 Inquiry Commission Ordinance 2015 and the Publication of Laws of Pakistan (Regulation) Ordinance 2015.

The same minister introduced the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2015, the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill 2015 and the National University of Medical Sciences Bill 2015 which were referred to the relevant committees.

The House took up a calling attention notice (CAN) regarding heavy and unscheduled load-shedding in Nowshera and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The unaddressed agenda included the consideration of the Gas (Theft Control and Recovery) Bill

2014, commenced motion under rule 259 about petrol shortage and energy crisis and a CAN regarding sale of items at higher rates at Utility Stores.

The sitting started 38 minutes behind the schedule with 38 lawmakers (11%) present at the start and 106 (31%) at the time of adjournment. The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers.

The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 63 minutes.

The quorum was visibly lacking at various stages of the sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers.

Following are some of the key observations from the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 12 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1638 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 83 minutes while the rest of the proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting.
• The Opposition Leader was present for 63 minutes.
• 38 lawmakers (11%) were present at the start and 106 (31%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 136 members (40%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JUI-F, APML, MQM, JI and AMLP were present.
• Eight minority members attended the sitting.
• Four members applied for leave.

Output

• State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs presented the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Ordinance 2015, the Countervailing Duties Ordinance 2015, the Anti-dumping Duties Ordinance 2015, the National Tariff Commission Ordinance 2015, the General Election 2013 inquiry Commission Ordinance 2015 and the Publication of Laws of Pakistan (Regulation) Ordinance 2015.
• The same minister introduced the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2015, the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill 2015 and the National University of Medical Sciences Bill 2015 which were referred to the relevant committees.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Sponsored by PTI lawmaker, the House took up a CAN regarding heavy and unscheduled load-shedding in Nowshera and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
• Eight out of 41 questions were taken up and responded to by the relevant ministries/departments. In addition, the lawmakers raised 10 supplementary questions during the sitting.

Order and Institutionalization

• Thirty points of orders (POs) consumed 50 minutes (38%) of the sitting.
• No protests/walkouts/boycotts were witnessed

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

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 This publication has been prepared with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way reflect the views of the European Union. This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the parliamentary proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.