ISLAMABAD, August 20, 2014: Starting an hour and 30 minutes late, the National Assembly continued discussion on the current political situation during the 10th sitting of 14th session on Wednesday, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
Nine legislators – two each from PML-N, PPPP, JUI-F and one each from MQM, JI and PkMAP – took part in the debate about protests and sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Islamabad. The discussion continued for an hour and 13 minutes.
The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 55 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 34 minutes. The House also offered fateha for the legendary squash player, Hashim Khan, who passed away yesterday. The sitting was adjourned for 1100 hours on Thursday.
Following are some key observations of the House proceedings:
Members’ Participation in the House Proceedings:
- The National Assembly met for an hour and 32 minutes.
- The sitting began at 1200 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 hours witnessing a delay of an hour and 30 minutes.
- The Speaker presided over the sitting for 32 minutes while the rest of the proceedings were chaired by the Deputy Speaker.
- The Prime Minister attended the sitting for 55 minutes while the Leader of the Opposition was present for 34 minutes.
- Seventy-two lawmakers (21%) were present at the outset while 124 (36%) at the adjournment of the sitting. A maximum of 152 members (44%) were observed to be present at one point during the sitting.
- Six minority members attended the sitting.
- Seven lawmakers applied for leave.
Representation and Responsiveness
- Nine legislators – two each from PML-N, PPPP, JUI-F and one each from MQM, JI and PkMAP– took part in the debate about protests and sit-ins by PTI and PAT that continued for an hour and 13 minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
- Two points of order consumed eight minutes of the proceedings’ time.
Transparency
- ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.
- Information on members’ attendance was not available to 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 National Assembly proceedings conducted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI); a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions excepted
