ISLAMABAD, April 8, 2015: The third sitting of the Parliament’s joint session witnessed low attendance of lawmakers as the House continued to discuss the security situation in the wake of the crisis in Yemen, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Wednesday.

The sitting started 35 minutes behind the schedule with 71 (16%) lawmakers present at the start and 170 (38%) at the time of adjournment. Eight lawmakers – one each from PML-F, PkMAP, PTI, MQM, APML, PML-N, ANP and PPPP – participated in the debate which took up 90% of the total proceedings.

The Prime Minister attended 41% of the proceedings, while the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly was present for the entire duration. The Senate Chairman and Deputy Chairman did not attend the sitting. The National Assembly’s Deputy Speaker was also absent.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in House Proceedings

• The joint sitting lasted two hours and 20 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1105 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The National Assembly Speaker chaired the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was not present.
• The Senate Chairman and Deputy Chairman were absent.
• The Prime Minister was present for 58 minutes.
• The National Assembly’s Opposition Leader attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the House in the Senate was present for 130 minutes.
• The Opposition Leader in the Senate attended the sitting for 81 minutes.
• 71 lawmakers (16%) were present at the start and 170 (38%) at the end of the sitting.
• A maximum of 248 parliamentarians (56%) attended the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, MQM, JI, ANP, APML, BNP, AMLP and PML-Z in the National Assembly were present.
• Seven minority lawmakers attended the proceedings.
• Eight legislators applied for leave.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House continued its debate on the security situation in the wake of the crisis in Yemen.
• Eight lawmakers – one each from PML-F, PkMAP, PTI, MQM, APML, PML-N, ANP and PPPP – participated in the debate for 126 minutes (90% of the proceedings’ time)

Transparency

• Information on members’ attendance was not available to 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.