ISLAMABAD, June 10, 2015: The National Assembly continued debate on the Federal Budget 2015-16 on Wednesday, as sixteen lawmakers spoke on it for 248 minutes, reports Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Tabled by Minister for Defence Production, the House passed a resolution to condemn the massacre of Muslims in Burma.

The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 32 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 131 minutes.

Despite the passage of a motion during the second sitting for not allowing points of order (POs) during the budget session, 34 POs were raised consuming 100 minutes of the proceedings time.

The Speaker suspended the proceedings for seven minutes after exchange of harsh words between PTI Deputy Parliamentary leader and PML-N lawmaker.

Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:

• The National Assembly met for seven hours and 15 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1005 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of five minutes.
• The House had a prayer and lunch break of 58 minutes.
• The Speaker chaired the sitting for 254 minutes while the remaining proceedings were presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 32 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 131 minutes.
• Finance Minister attended the sitting for 140 minutes.
• A total of 20 members (6% of the total membership – 342) were present at the outset, while 54 (16%) were there at the time of adjournment.
• A maximum of 165 members (48%) were present at one point of the sitting.
• The Parliamentary leaders of ANP, AMLP, JI, BNP, MQM, APML, QWP, PML and JUI-F attended the sitting.
• Nine minority members were present during the sitting.
• Three members applied for leave.

Output

• Tabled by Minister for Defence Production, the House passed a resolution to condemn the massacre of Muslims in Burma.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Sixteen lawmakers expressed their views on the Federal Budget 2015-16 for 248 minutes. These include six from PML-N, followed by PPPP, PTI, MQM (2 each) and one each from ANP, JI, JUI-F and AMLP.

Order and Institutionalization

• 34 points of order consumed 100 minutes of the sitting.
• The entire opposition walked out of the House for five minutes for not broadcasting their speeches live on television.

Transparency

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

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The 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.