ISLAMABAD, June 9, 2017: The National Assembly could not hold the budget debate on Friday due to the protests by treasury and opposition lawmakers against one another over certain political matters, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are key observations of the proceedings during 12^th sitting of the 43rd session:

 Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 32 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 15 minutes due to the protests of the opposition and the treasury benches.
• The sitting started at 1144 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition remained present during the entire proceedings.
• As many as 108 lawmakers (32%) were present at the outset and 98 (29%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, JI, QWP-S, PkMAP, ANP and APML attended the sitting.
• Four minority lawmakers were also present.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House did not hold general discussion on the budget due to the protests in the House.

Order and Institutionalization

• On a Point of Order, the Leader of the Opposition spoke for 37 minutes about the arrest of a Member of the National Assembly and the insulting behavior of a citizen with another lawmaker. The Minister of State for Interior responded to the concerns raised by the Opposition Leader in five minutes.
• The opposition and the treasury legislators staged separate protests against one another on the floor of the House for 18 minutes.
• The Chair suspended the proceedings for 15 minutes due to the protests in the House.

Transparency

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

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