ISLAMABAD, February 11, 2015: Starting 25 minutes behind the schedule, the seventh sitting of the National Assembly’s 18th session was marked by low attendance of lawmakers and a joint boycott against increase in GST on petroleum products.

Thirty-eight (11%) lawmakers were present at the start of the sitting and 75 (22%) at the time of adjournment. The quorum was visibly lacking during the entire sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers.

The House took up two calling attention notices (CANs) regarding discontinuation of Bolan mail train’s stopover in Naudero and non-allotment of a graveyard for residents of the suburbs in Islamabad.

The Finance Minister presented the fiscal policy statement and debt policy statement for the year 2014-15.

Two motions under Rule 259 to debate the recent petrol crisis and problems being faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) were not taken up.

Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:

Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 16 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1125 hours against the scheduled time of 1100 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the sitting for 40 minutes, while the remaining time was chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
• The Prime Minister did not attend the sitting, while the Opposition Leader was present for 70 minutes.
• Thirty-eight (11%) lawmakers were present at the start of the sitting and 75 (22%) at the time of adjournment. A maximum of 122 (36%) MNAs were present during the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MQM, ANP, APML, QWP and PML were present.
• Six out of 10 minority members attended the House proceedings.
• Thirteen members applied for leave.

Output

• The fiscal policy statement and debt policy statement for the year 2014-15 was not presented in the House.

Representation and Responsiveness

• Thirteen out of 43 starred questions appearing on Orders of the Day were taken up. In addition, the MNAs raised 19 supplementary questions.
• The House took up two calling attention notices (CANs) regarding discontinuation of Bolan mail train’s stopover in Naudero and non-allotment of a graveyard for residents of the suburbs in Islamabad.
• Two motions under Rule 259 to debate the recent petrol crisis and problems being faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) were not taken up.

Order and Institutionalization

• Five points of order consumed 43 minutes of the sitting.
• Opposition members along with MQM, PkMAP and the parliamentary leader of QWP boycotted the sitting at 1253 hours against increase in GST on petroleum products. However, three MQM members returned to the House as the Interior Minister gave a statement on the National Action Plan.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
• Information on members’ attendance was not available to the observers and the public.

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of FAFEN and in no way 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 are excepted.