ISLAMABAD, February 14, 2020: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the Joint Session of Parliament for the fourth time on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

The Joint Session started with the national anthems of both the countries. The Turkish President addressed the House for 24 minutes. President Erdogan earlier addressed the Joint Sessions on May 21, 2012 and October 26, 2009 in the capacity of the Prime Minister and on November 17, 2016 as the President of Turkey.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser delivered a Note of Thanks on the official visit of Turkish President to Pakistan during his four-minute welcome address.

Following are key observations of the proceedings of fifth Joint Sitting.

Members’ Participation

• The Joint Session lasted 40 minutes.
• The session started at 1119 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker of National Assembly chaired the entire sitting while the Chairman Senate was also present.
• The Deputy Chairman Senate and the Deputy Speaker National Assembly were also present in the House.
• The Prime Minister attended the entire sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly was not present.
• The Leaders of the House and the Opposition in the Senate attended the proceedings. .
• As many as 392 legislators (88% of the membership – 446) were present at the start and 396 (89%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, PPPP, BAP, AMLP, MQM, GDA and PML-N in the National Assembly were present.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of JI, PTI, PkMAP, NP, PPPP and ANP in the Senate attended the proceedings.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The Turkish President addressed the House for 24 minutes.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

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