ISLAMABAD, November 21, 2017: The National Assembly rejected the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017, moved by a PPPP lawmaker, with majority vote on Tuesday, observes Free and Fair Election Network in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are the key observations of the proceedings during the fourth and last sitting of the 49th session:

Members’ Participation

• The National Assembly met for two hours and 43 minutes while the proceedings remained suspended for 25 minutes due to prayer break.
• The sitting started at 1620 hours against the scheduled time of 1600 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker also attended the sitting.
• The Leader of the House (Prime Minister) attended the sitting for an hour and 14 minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for two hours and 34 minutes.
• As many as 133 (39%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 261 (76%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of PPPP, PML, AMLP, ANP, APML, JI, MQM, QWP-S attended the sitting.
• Eight minority lawmakers were present.

 Output

• The House rejected the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017 with majority vote. The bill, moved by a PPPP lawmaker, was transferred to the National Assembly from the Senate. It sought to amend the Section 203 of the Elections Act 2017 to bar a person disqualified to be the Member of the Parliament from holding any office of a political party. As many as 98 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill while 163 lawmakers voted against it.
• The lawmakers introduced the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the West Pakistan Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The bills were referred to the relevant standing committees.
• The Chair deferred the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017] (Amendment in Article 198).
• The House rejected the motion seeking leave for introduction of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017] (Amendment in Article 51).
• The House dropped the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment in Article 91), the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (moved by JUI-F lawmaker) and the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (moved by JI lawmaker).
• The Chairman Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat presented the report of the committee on the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The House condoned the delay in the presentation of the report.
• The Chairman Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented the report of the committee on the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The House condoned the delay in the presentation of the report.
• The Chairman Standing Committee on Human Rights presented the report of the committee on the National Commission for Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The House condoned the delay in the presentation of the report.
• The Chairman Standing Committee on Interior presented the reports of the committee on the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2017; the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017] (insertion of section 166A) and the Federal Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The House condoned the delay in the presentation of the reports.
• On behalf of the Chairman Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges, the Minister for Defence presented report of the committee on the amendments proposed in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.
• The House did not take up the resolutions appearing on the Orders of the Day.
• The House left the Acid and Burn Crime Bill, 2017, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (section 489F) and the Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2017 unaddressed.

 Representation and Responsiveness

• The House took up a Calling Attention Notice (CAN) regarding the incidents of human rights abuse especially against women during the recent weeks. The Minister for Human Rights made a statement on this issue.
• Another CAN regarding delay in the commencement of NTS entry test for admission in medical and dental institutions was not addressed.
• The House did not take up the Motions under Rule 259 appearing on the Orders of the Day.

Order and Institutionalization

• As many as three lawmakers spoke on Points of Personal Explanation consuming seven minutes of the proceedings.
• As many as five lawmakers raised 11 Points of Order consuming 55 minutes of the proceedings.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Information on Members’ attendance is available on the National Assembly website.

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 are excepted