ISLAMABAD, June 18, 2021: The National Assembly continued debate on federal budget 2021-22 and twenty-seven lawmakers participated in it, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Friday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during ninth sitting of the 34th session:

 Members’ Participation

• The House met for nine hours and 38 minutes, however, the proceedings remained suspended for an hour and 50 minutes due to prayer break.
• The proceedings started at 11:02 am against the scheduled time of 11:00 am.
• The speaker presided over the proceedings for an hour and 38 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by members of panel of chairpersons.
• The deputy speaker was not present.
• The leader of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.
• The opposition leader remained present for 45 minutes during the proceedings.
• A total of 40 lawmakers (12 percent) were present at the outset and 18 (five percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, BAP, JWP and GDA attended the sitting.
• Six out of ten minority lawmakers were also present during the proceedings.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Twenty-seven lawmakers participated in debate on federal budget 2021-22 and consumed seven hours and 25 minutes of the proceedings.

Order and Institutionalization

• Two lawmakers including the Minister of state for parliamentary affairs spoke on points of order for four minutes.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 11:00 am.

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’s proceedings, conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions excepted