ISLAMABAD, January 22, 2021: The National Assembly did not take up its regular business on Friday and was adjourned as a mark of respect for PPPP MNA Pir Noor Muhammad Jeelani who passed away last month due to coronavirus, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in Daily Factsheet.
Following are key observations of the proceedings during first sitting of 28th session:
Members’ Participation
• The National Assembly met for 25 minutes.
• The sitting started at 1045 hours against the scheduled time of 1030 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.
• Sixty-one (18%) lawmakers were present at the outset and 113 (33%) at the adjournment of sitting.
• Only the parliamentary leader of PPPP attended the sitting.
• Four minority lawmakers were present.
Representation and Responsiveness
• The House did not consider the regular agenda and was adjourned as a mark of respect for PPPP’s MNA Pir Noor Muhammad Shah Jeelani from NA-221 (Tharparkar-I) who passed away last month due to coronavirus. Two lawmakers paid tributes to the deceased lawmaker and highlighted his political struggle for five minutes.
Order and Institutionalization
• Three lawmakers including the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs spoke on points of order for four minutes which were about summoning of the National Assembly session on short notice.
• The House was adjourned to meet again on January 25, 2021 (Monday) at 1600 hours.
Transparency
• Orders of the Day was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.
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
