ISLAMABAD, January 16, 2015: Starting 19 minutes behind the schedule, the 13th (last) sitting of the National Assembly’s 17th session witnessed the introduction of two bills and passage of a resolution amid low attendance, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Fifty-one lawmakers (15%) were present at the start of the sitting and 48 (14%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 132 (39%) members were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.

Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination introduced the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers (Amendment) Bill 2015, while the State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication introduced the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 during the sitting. Both bills were referred to the relevant standing committees for further deliberations.

The House adopted a resolution seeking extension in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Ordinance 2014 for 120 days with effect from January 22, 2015. The entire opposition along with QWP staged a walkout against the resolution and did not return to the House till the sitting’s adjournment.

The House took up a calling attention notice (CAN) sponsored by three female lawmakers of PML-N regarding deteriorating standards of educational institutions being managed by the Federal Directorate of Education.

In addition, the Special Committee Chairman presented a report on investigations against allegations of tax non-payment by a number of parliamentarians.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for an hour and 49 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1049 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Deputy Speaker chaired the entire sitting as the Speaker was absent.
• The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader did not attend the sitting.
• Fifty-one lawmakers (15%) were present at the start of the sitting and 48 (14%) at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 132 members (39%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, PkMAP, APML, QWP and PML-Z were present.
• Nine out of 10 minority members attended the sitting.
• Twenty-eight lawmakers applied for leave.

Output

• Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination introduced the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers (Amendment) Bill 2015.
• State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication introduced the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015.
• The House adopted a resolution seeking extension in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Ordinance 2014 for 120 days with effect from January 22, 2015.
• Special Committee Chairman presented a report on investigations against allegations of tax non-payment by a number of parliamentarians.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up a calling attention notice sponsored by three female lawmakers of PML-N regarding deteriorating standards of educational institutions being managed by the Federal Directorate of Education.
• Eleven out of 39 questions appearing on the agenda were answered by the relevant departments, while the MNAs raised 20 supplementary questions.

Order and Institutionalization

• Fourteen points of order consumed 24 minutes of the proceedings’ time.
• A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1200 hours. However, it was found to be complete upon counting.
• The entire opposition along with QWP staged a walkout against the adopted resolution at 1216 hours and did not return to the House till the sitting’s adjournment.
• Members from FATA staged a five-minute walkout against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor for not taking them on board in decisions pertaining to their region. However, they returned to the House after negotiating with the Defence Minister and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

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 produced 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 National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.