ISLAMABAD, June 11, 2014: The general discussion on the federal budget 2014-15 continued on Wednesday during 5th sitting of 12th National Assembly session, as 15 lawmakers expressed their views on the budgetary proposals, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.
Five PML-N members addressed the House for an hour and 53 minutes, followed by three members of PPPP (55 minutes) and two each of MQM (54 minutes) and PTI (13 minutes). The sole member of AMLP (25 minutes) and single member each of PkMAP (25 minutes) and JI (20 minutes) also spoke on the Finance Bill.
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 33 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 50 minutes. The Finance Minister attended the sitting for an hour and 22 minutes.
Minister for Finance briefed the parliamentarians about the approval of the World Bank for Dasu Hydro-Electric Power Project.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:
- The National Assembly met for six hours and 10 minutes.
- The House had a prayer break of 45 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1030 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours, witnessing a delay of 30 minutes.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for an hour and 40 minutes while the remaining proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 33 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 50 minutes.
- The parliamentary leaders of PTI, PML and JUI-F did not attend the sitting.
- Thirty-one members were present at the outset while 39 at the adjournment of the sitting. A maximum of 127 members were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- Four minority members attended the sitting.
- Nine members applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Fifteen members participated in the budget debate. Five PML-N members addressed the House for an hour and 53 minutes, followed by three members of PPPP (55 minutes) and two each of MQM (54 minutes) and PTI (13 minutes). The sole member of AMLP (25 minutes) and single member each of PkMAP (25 minutes) and JI (20 minutes) also spoke on the Finance Bill.
Order and Institutionalization
- Deputy Parliamentary Leader of PTI raised the only point of order that consumed three minutes of the proceedings.
- 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
