• Session Prorogued

ISLAMABAD, August 12, 2020: The National Assembly passed five government bills related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and adopted two supplementary resolutions, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet on Wednesday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during the fifth and last sitting of 24^th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for three hours and 17 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1045 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire proceedings.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• Fifty-one lawmakers (15%) were present at the outset and 101 (30%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PML-N, BAP, PPPP, JWP and BNP-M attended the sitting.
• Five minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• The House passed five government bills including the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.
• The Chair deferred the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 for further consideration on it.

• Tabled by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, the House adopted a supplementary resolution to write the name of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAWW) as “Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Allah Khatam-un-Nabiyyin Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam” in all official and non-official documents.
• The House adopted another resolution to include the speech of founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam to the Constituent Assembly on the August 11, 1947 regarding minorities as a part of the syllabus. The resolution was tabled by a PML-N lawmaker.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Minister for Maritime Affairs responded to a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding arrival of twelve Chinese modern fishing trollers in Karachi.
• Another CAN on the agenda regarding non-establishment of separate women university in Islamabad was deferred due to the absent of relevant movers. However, the Minister for Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture gave a statement on it.
• The House passed a motion to constitute a Select Committee and forward Senate-assented private members’ bills to it for further consideration which appeared on `Orders of the Day’ on August 11, 2020.
• The House passed a motion for immediate consideration of six government bills after suspending the rules.

Order and Institutionalization

• Eleven lawmakers spoke on points of order for 57 minutes.
• The Session was prorogued sine die.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the National Assembly proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted