ISLAMABAD, November 17, 2021: The Majlis-e-Shoora passed 33 bills including the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 amid protest and walkout of the opposition, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its daily factsheet on Wednesday.

Key observations of the proceedings during first and last sitting of the 10th Joint Session of Parliament include the following:

Members’ Participation

• The Joint Session lasted five hours and 50 minutes.
• The session started at 01:02 pm against the scheduled time of 12:00 pm.
• The speaker of National Assembly chaired the sitting for four hours and 29 minutes while the chairman Senate presided over the remaining proceedings.
• The deputy chairman Senate and the deputy speaker National Assembly were also present.
•  The Prime Minister attended the sitting for two hours and 55 minutes.
• The Leader of the House in the Senate attended the entire proceedings.
• The Leaders of the Opposition in Senate and National Assembly were present for two hours and 53 minutes.
• As many as 271 legislators (61% of the membership – 442) were present at the start and 179 (40%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• The parliamentary leaders of MMAP, PPPP, AMLP, MQMP, PML, ANP, GDA, JWP and PML-N in the National Assembly were present.
• The Parliamentary Leaders of JI, PTI, PkMAP, PML-N, JUIP, PPPP, MQM, ANP, PML-F and JUI-F in the Senate attended the proceedings.

Output

• A bill – the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021 – was deferred.
• The House passed 33 bills of which 28 appeared on the regular agenda while five were considered as supplementary business. The bills passed by the House included the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021; the international Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2021; the Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill, 2021; the SBP Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the National College of Arts Institute Bill, 2021; the Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Amendment in Section 4); the Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Amendment in Section 7); the Anti-Rape ( investigation and Trial) Bill , 2021; the Hyderabad Institute for Technical and Management Sciences Bill, 2021; the Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Financial institutions (Secured Transactions) (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules) Bill, 2021; the University of Islamabad Bill, 2021; the Loans for Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Purposes (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Companies (Amendment) Bill , 2021; the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Bill,2021; the Gwadar Port authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Maritime Security Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill,2021; COVID-19 (Prevention of Hoarding) Bill, 2021; the Al-Karam International Institute Bill, 2021; the Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, 2021; Islamabad Capital Territory Food Safety Bill, 2O21; the Unani, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
• Earlier, the House passed a motion to consider the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 with majority vote. Two-hundred and twenty one (221) lawmakers voted in favor of the motion and 203 opposed it. Six lawmakers including the leader of the opposition also spoke on it for an hour and 36 minutes.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House passed a motion and rejected the reference of Sindh Government against the decision of Council of Common Interests regarding population census 2017. Four lawmakers including the minister for planning, development and special initiatives spoke on it for 41 minutes.

Order and Institutionalization

• The opposition protested for an hour and five minutes during consideration of the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021. Later, the entire opposition staged walked out of the House for 24 minutes against the Chair’s decision to pass an amendment on this legislative proposal through voice voting instead of counting of lawmakers favoring or opposing it.
• The Session was prorogued sine die.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• The attendance of lawmakers was available to the media and observers.

This daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Majlis-e-Shoora proceedings conducted by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Errors and omissions are excepted