ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2014: The National Assembly expressed grief and sorrow over the death of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmaker Tahira Asif and sympathized with the bereaved family during 13th sitting of 12th session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.
The sitting started 35 minutes behind the schedule and the House was adjourned after 27 minutes without transacting any business to meet again on Saturday morning. The House also offered fateha for the departed soul.
The lawmakers spoke on 9 points of order consuming 22 minutes of the proceedings and demanded probe into the incident as well as arrest of the culprits involved in the killing of Tahira Asif in Lahore.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings:
- The National Assembly met for 27 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1035 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of 35 minutes.
- The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was also present.
- The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting while the Leader of the Opposition attended the entire sitting.
- The Federal Minister for Finance attended the entire sitting.
- The parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, JI and AML were present during the sitting.
- Seventy-eight members were present at the outset while 112 were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 115 members were observed to be present at one point of the sitting.
- Four minority members attended the sitting.
- No member applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The National Assembly expressed grief and sorrow over the death of MQM lawmaker Tahira Asif and demanded arrest of the killers.
- The House offered fateha for the soul of the deceased.
Order and Institutionalization
- The lawmakers spoke on 9 points of order consuming 22 minutes of the proceedings.
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
