ISLAMABAD, September 3, 2014: Starting 38 minutes behind schedule, the Joint Session of the Parliament continued debate on the prevailing political situation in the country during its second sitting on Wednesday, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
A total of ten legislators – two from ANP, and one each of PTI, PPPP, PML-N, QWP, JI, JUI-F, NP and PkMAP – spoke for 224 minutes (75% of the total time)
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for two hours and 28 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly was present for three hours and 46 minutes.
Following are some key observations of the parliamentary business:
Members’ Participation in House Proceedings
- The Joint Sitting lasted four hours and 59 minutes.
- The sitting started at 1138 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours, witnessing a delay of 38 minutes.
- The House took a prayer break for 60 minutes.
- The National Assembly Speaker chaired the entire sitting. The NA Deputy Speaker was also present. The Chairman Senate did not attend the sitting while Deputy Chairman was there for three hours and eight minutes.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for two hours and 28 minutes while Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly was there for three hours and 46 minutes. The Leader of the House in Senate attended the entire sitting while the Leader of the Opposition was present for two hours and 36 minutes.
- A total of 136 lawmakers (30% of the total membership of 446 – 342 in NA and 104 in Senate) were present at the outset of the sitting while 175 (39%) were there at the adjournment. A maximum of 292 members (65%) were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- The NA parliamentary leaders of PkMAP, APML, PML-Z, QWP, JI and JUI-F attended the sitting. Similarly, Senate’s parliamentary leaders of ANP, NP, PPPP and PML-N were also attended the sitting.
Representation and Responsiveness
- The House debated the prevailing political situation for three hours and 44 minutes (75% of the total time).
- Ten Legislators took part in the debate – a PTI Member initiating the debate who spoke 71 minutes, followed by two ANP and one JI legislator who spoke for 42 and 10 minutes, respectively. Similarly, the NP, JUI-F, PkMAP and QWP parliamentary leaders spoke for 36 minutes, 13 minutes, five minutes and 26 minutes, respectively. The Leader of the Opposition addressed the House for 15 minutes, while the Finance Minister spoke fir six minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- The JI parliamentary leader in National Assembly announced to boycott the sitting for not getting the permission to speak on floor of the House. However, later, he withdrew his decision.
- No Points of Order were raised by any of the lawmakers.
Transparency
- Information on members’ attendance was not available to the 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 Parliament proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI); a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted.
