ISLAMABAD, September 17, 2019: The National Assembly left 77 percent of its agenda unaddressed on the Private Member’s Day and debated political matters as well as minority issue in Sindh through points of order, observers Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Tuesday.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during third sitting of the 14^th session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for three hours and three minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for an hour due to lack of quorum.
• The sitting started at 1041 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker was also present.
• The Leaders of the House (Prime Minister) and the Opposition did not attend the sitting.
• As many as 41 (12%) were present at the outset and 47 (14%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of ANP and BAP attended the sitting.
• Eight out of 10 minority lawmakers were present.

Output

• The House witnessed introduction of 11 bills which included the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Controller General of Accounts (Appointment, Functions and Powers) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Chemical Fertilizers (Development Surcharge) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Islamabad Transfusion of Safe Blood (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Transfer of Offenders (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Islamabad Club (Administration) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (section 292, 293 & 294) and the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
• Seven other private members’ bills were deferred on the request of movers or relevant ministers. These bills were the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019] (Article 140B); the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (section 325); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019] (Article 179); the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article 239) and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (Administration) (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
• Fifty legislative proposals, five reports of Standing Committees, an amendment in Rules  of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly 2007, six resolutions, five motions under Rule 259 and two Calling Attention Notices were not taken up in the House.

Order and Institutionalization

• Nineteen lawmakers including Ministers for Communications, Science and Technology, Maritime Affairs and State Ministers for Parliamentary Affairs spoke on points of order (POs) consuming 75 minutes of the proceedings. These POs were mostly related to political matters and minority issues in Sindh.
• The Opposition walked out of the proceedings for 62 minutes when the Chair disallowed its lawmakers to debate a bill seeking constitutional amendment.
• A PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 1059 hours which led to the suspension of the proceedings for an hour.
• PPPP lawmakers, after being disallowed by the Chair to speak on points of order, also walked out of the proceedings at 1341 hours. Following this walkout, a PPPP lawmaker pointed out the quorum which was found incomplete and the House was adjourned to meet again on September 19, 2019 (Thursday) at 1100 hours.

Transparency

• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of the lawmakers is available on the National Assembly’s website.

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