ISLAMABAD, July 2, 2014: The National Assembly passed the Protection of Pakistan Bill, 2014 during the one-day sitting of 13th session on Wednesday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
The Federal Minister for Science and Technology moved the House to consider the Protection of Pakistan Bill, 2014 as passed by the Senate with amendments. The House gave approval to it with majority while PTI lawmakers did not participate in the voting process.
The anti-terror bill aims at providing for protection against waging of war or insurrection against Pakistan and the prevention of acts threating the security of Pakistan.
Six lawmakers participated in the debate that continued for an hour and 55 minutes. Federal Minister for Science and Technology spoke for 30 minutes, followed by MQM Parliamentary Leader (24 minutes), PTI Deputy Parliamentary Leader (22 minutes), sole member of AMLP (15 minutes), Parliamentary Leader of JI (14 minutes) and Leader of the Opposition (10 minutes).
The Federal Minister for Science and Technology moved two motions and both were adopted. The first motion was regarding suspension of routine business on Orders of the Day while the other was related to the presentation of Questions (both starred and un-starred) and Calling Attention Notices of 12th and 13th sessions in any of the next sessions so that these may not lapse.
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 20 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and six minutes.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:
- The National Assembly met for two hours and 11 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1133 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours, witnessing a delay of 33 minutes.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 20 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and six minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of QWP, JI, AMLP, MQM, BNP and PML-Z attended the sitting.
- One hundred and 34 lawmakers were present at the outset while 156 at the adjournment of the sitting. A maximum of 243 members were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- Ten minority members attended the sitting.
- Ten members applied for leave.
Output
- Introduced by the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, the House passed the Protection of Pakistan Bill, 2014 as passed by the Senate with amendments. The House passed it with majority while PTI lawmakers did not participate in the voting process.
- Six lawmakers participated in the debate that continued for an hour and 55 minutes.
- Federal Minister for Science and Technology spoke on it for 30 minutes, followed by MQM Parliamentary Leader (24 minutes), PTI Deputy Parliamentary Leader (22 minutes), sole member of AMLP (15 minutes), Parliamentary Leader of JI (14 minutes) and Leader of the Opposition (10 minutes).
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Federal Minister for Science and Technology moved two motions in the House and both were adopted.
- First motion was regarding suspension of routine business on Orders of the Day while the other was relating to the presentation of Questions (both starred and un-starred) and Calling Attention Notices of 12th and 13th sessions in any of the next sessions so that these may not lapse.
Order and Institutionalization
- There were no incidents of protests, walkouts and boycotts.
- No point of order was raised by any lawmaker.
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.
This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and can in no way be taken to 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 excepted
