ISLAMABAD, June 06, 2014: The National Assembly opened debate on Federal Budget 2014-15 with the speech of Leader of the Opposition and passed three bills during the 2nd sitting of 12th session on Friday, reports Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Introduced by Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, the House passed the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Service Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
The Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2014 seeks enhancement in effectiveness of law enforcing agencies in tackling heinous crimes, the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2014 asks for establishment of Islamabad Bar Council after Independent High Court for Islamabad Capital Territory and the Service Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2014 aims at empowering Federal Services Tribunal by making it an effective judicial forum, financially autonomous and laying criteria for appointment in it.
The Leader of the Opposition spoke on budget for 60 minutes, however, due to the adjournment of the sitting, he was allowed to continue his speech in the next sitting (Monday).
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for an hour and five minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present during the entire sitting.
The House offered fateha for the former lawmaker, Mian Mohsin Qureshi, who passed away recently.
The following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 36 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1044 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours witnessing a delay of 14 minutes.
- The Speaker of the House chaired the entire sitting.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for an hour and five minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present during the entire sitting.
- A total of 71 members were present at the outset, while 127 were there at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 147 members were present at one point of the sitting.
- The Parliamentary leaders of PTI, MQM, PkMAP and APML did not attend the sitting.
- Three minority members were present during the sitting.
Output
- Introduced by Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, the House passed three bills, including Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Service Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The Leader of the Opposition opened the general discussion on the Federal Budget 2014-15. He spoke for 60 minutes and would continue his speech on June 09, 2014 (Monday).
Order and Institutionalization
- Five points of order consumed 15 minutes of total time.
- There were no incidents of protests, walkouts and boycotts
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
