PILDAT releases Parliament Update for 38th Session of The National Assembly and 315th Session of the Senate

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National Assembly holds 8 Sittings during 38th Session (November 5-19, 2021)

Session scheduled on end of the week and spanned over two weeks though only 8 sittings were held.

Working Hours 

The 38th session of the 15th National Assembly was called to meet at the end of a working week on Friday, November 5 at 11 am. However, the sitting could only begin after a delay of 21 minutes and only lasted for 26 minutes. After the two-day weekend break, the next sitting was held on Monday, November 8 at 6pm, beyond the regular working hours. The sitting began with a delay of 36 minutes and lasted 3 hours and 3 minutes. The next sitting was scheduled to begin at 5 pm on Tuesday, November 9 but started with a delay of 55 minutes and lasted 1 hour and 36 minutes. On Wednesday, November 10, the sitting began with a delay of 50 minutes at 11:50 am and was adjourned after 1 hour and 10 minutes. No session was held on Thursday, November 11. On Friday, November 12, the sitting lasted only 1 hour and 17 minutes and was held with a delay of 12 minutes at 11:12 am. After a break of another two days on Saturday and Sunday, the Assembly met again on Monday, November 15, when again the house was called at meet at the end of the working day at 5 pm though it started with a delay of 32 minutes and continued only for an hour and 26 minutes. On Tuesday, November 16, the house was called to meet at 11 am but could only begin after a delay of 42 minutes and worked only for an hour and 40 minutes. The last sitting of the 38th session was held on Friday, November 19 with a delay of 25 minutes and lasted for only 10 minutes after which the session was prorogued.

The National Assembly met for 10 hours and 48 minutes with an average time of 1 hour and 21 minutes per sitting. The longest sitting lasted for 3 hours and 3 minutes on November 8, 2021 while the shortest sitting was held only for 10 minutes on November 19, 2021. All 8 sittings were held with an average delay of 42 minutes per sitting.

Agenda Items Left Over

Average 75.69% agenda items were left over during 38th session of National Assembly. The maximum agenda items i.e. 95.65% were left over on November 19, 2021 while the minimum left over, i.e., 10.71% was seen on November 8, 2021.

Legislation

During 38th session of National Assembly, no Government bill was introduced while 11 Private Members’ Bills were introduced. Total 8 bills were passed during the session out of which one was a private member bill. Only one bill was referred to the Standing Committee. Two (2) Ordinances were laid which had amended the National Accountability Ordinance (NA) namely the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (Ordinance No. XXIII of 2021) and the National Accountability (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (Ordinance No. XXVI of 2021). The Assembly passed motions to refer two (2) bills to the joint sitting as both were passed by the National Assembly and not by the Senate within the stipulated period of 90 days. These included the Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill, 2021 and the COVID-19 (Prevention of Hoarding) Bill, 2021.

Eight (8) bills were passed by the National Assembly on November 8 and 9, 2021:

  1. The Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021
  2. The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  3. The National Commission on the Rights of Child (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  4. The Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  5. The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  6. The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  7. The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2021]
  8. The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2021

Quorum Pointed Out

During 38th session of the National Assembly, quorum was pointed out in 3 (37.50%) sittings out of 8 sittings held and 3 (37.50%) sittings were adjourned though on average 225 (65.79%) marked attendance in the session. Quorum was pointed out 6 times throughout the session. The sitting held on November 5 was adjourned due to lack of quorum where 173 MNAs were recorded as present. On November 8, quorum was pointed out 3 times. First time quorum was pointed out at 7.49 pm, the count was made, the House was found in order. At 8.36 pm, quorum was again pointed out, the count was made and the House was found in order. Quorum was pointed out again at 9.37 pm for the third time. The count was made, the House was not found in order and proceedings were adjourned as required number of MNAs were not present in the House. It must be noted that 237 MNAs had marked their attendance on November 8. Similarly, quorum was pointed out twice in sitting held on November 15. First time quorum was pointed out at 5.52 pm, the count was made, the House was not found in order and the proceedings were suspended due to non-availability of required number of MNAs in the session. The proceedings began at 6.05 pm when the House was found in order. At 6.58 pm, quorum was again pointed out, the count was made and the House was not found in order and proceedings were adjourned as required number of MNAs were not present in the House though 209 MNAs had marked their attendance on November 15.

Attendance

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, MNA did not attend a single sitting during the 38th session of the National Assembly. Leader of the Opposition, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, MNA attended only 5 (62.50%) sittings held on November 8, November 9, November 10, November 16 and November 19. On the average, 225 or 65.79% MNAs marked their attendance during the 40th session.

Top 5 Vocal MNAs (Including Ministers)

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA (NA-73 Sialkot-II, Punjab, PML-N) was the most vocal MNA during the 38th session with a recorded talk time of 22 minutes. Mr. Shaukat Ali, MNA (NA-31 Peshawar-V, KP, PTI) spoke for 20 minutes, followed by Ms. Maleeka Ali Bokhari, MNA (Reserved Seat for Women, Punjab, PTI) who spoke for 19 minutes. Mr. Asad Mahmood, MNA (NA-37 Tank, KP, MMAP) spoke for 15 minutes and Mr. Amjad Ali Khan, MNA (NA-96 Mianwali-II, Punjab, PTI) spoke for 14 minutes.

Senate of Pakistan holds 7 Sittings during 315th Session (November 5-19, 2021)

 

Working Hours

The Senate met for 14 hours and 49 minutes in 315th Session with an average time of 2 hours and 7 minutes per sitting. 4 sittings started late on an average of 34 minutes per sitting.

The 315th session of the Senate began on Friday, November 5 at the end of the working week. The House was called to meet at 10:30 am but could begin with a delay of 5 minutes and lasted for 1 hour and 55 minutes before it was adjourned due to quorum point out. No sitting was held over the Saturday and Sunday weekend. The next sitting held on Monday, November 8 was called at 4 pm at the end of working day and started with a delay of 1 hour and 35 minutes and lasted for 30 minutes only. It was the shortest sitting of the session which was adjourned due to quorum point out. The sitting held on Wednesday, November 10 was again called at 4 pm though it started with a delay of 1 hour and 16 minutes and lasted for 2 hours and 19 minutes. The sitting held on Friday, November 12 was called at 10:30 am and started 30 minutes early and lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. No sitting was held over the Saturday and Sunday weekend. On Monday, November 15, the house was called to meet at 4 pm though it started with a delay of 40 minutes and lasted for 3 hours and 30 minutes as the longest sitting of the session. The next sitting held on Wednesday, November 16. the House was called to convene at 11 am and started on time and last for 1 hour and 40 minutes though it was adjourned due to quorum. The last sitting of the session was called on Friday, November 19 at 10.30 am and was started on time and lasted for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Legislation

5 bills were passed by the Senate during 315th session. 1 bill was passed in a sitting held on November 15 and 4 (four) bills were passed in a sitting held on November 19. Bills that were passed included the following:

  1. The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2021
  2. The Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021
  3. The Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021
  4. The Higher Education Commission (Amendment). Bill, 2021
  5. The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2021

Nine (4) Ordinances were laid during the session including three (3) laid on Wednesday, November 10, four (4) laid on Friday, November 12 and two (2) laid on Tuesday, November 16. These included:

  1. The Pakistan Civil Aviation Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XIII of 2021)
  2. The Pakistan Airports Authority Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XIV of 2021)
  3. The Federal Government Properties Management Authority Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XV of 2021)
  4. The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Amendment Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XIX of 2021)
  5. The Regulation of Generation Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Amendment Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XVII of 2021)
  6. The Public Private Partnership Authority Amendment Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XVIII of 2021)
  7. The Public Properties Removal of Encroachment Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XVI of 2021)
  8. The Pakistan Food Security Flow and Information Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XXI of 2021)
  9. The Protection of Parents Ordinance 2021 (Ordinance No XII of 2021)

No Government bill was introduced during the session while 3 bills were introduced by Private Members. No Ordinance was extended during the whole session.

Agenda Items Left Over

33.28% agenda items on average were left over in 7 sittings held during 315th session. 11 agenda items were left over out of 17 in the sitting held on November 5 when quorum was pointed out and the house was adjourned for not being in order. In the sitting held on November 8, 34 agenda items were left over out of 37 which was the maximum left over of agenda items when quorum was pointed out and the house was adjourned for not being in order. On November 10, only one agenda item was left over which was the minimum left over. On November 12, 9 agenda items were taken up out of 10. In the sitting held on November 15, 15 agenda items were left over out of 46agenda items. On November 16, only one agenda item was left over out of 15 agenda item when quorum was pointed out and the house was adjourned for not being in order. On November 19, 5 agenda items were left over out of 24 agenda items when the session was prorogued.

Quorum Pointed Out

In 4 (57.14%) out of 7 sittings of the Senate during 315th session, quorum was pointed out and 3 (42.86%) sittings were adjourned though on average 70 (70%) Senators marked attendance in the session. Quorum was pointed out 4 times throughout the session. On November 5, quorum was pointed out, the count was made but the House was not in order and the proceedings were adjourned. It must be noted that 48 Senators had marked their attendance on November 5. The sitting held on November 8 was also adjourned due to lack of quorum though 56 Senators were recorded as present. Similarly the sitting held on November 15 was adjourned due to lack of quorum where 77 Senators were recorded as present. Sitting held on November 16 was also adjourned due to lack of quorum where 74 Senators were recorded as present.

Attendance

On the average 70 or 70% Senators marked their attendance during the 315th session.

Top 5 Vocal Senators

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed (KP, JIP) was the most vocal Senator during 315th session with a recorded talk time of 45 minutes. Leader of the House in the Senate, Senator Dr. Shahzad Waseem (Punjab, PTI) spoke for 36 minutes during the session, followed by Senator Syed Ali Zafar (Punjab, PTI) who spoke for 35 minutes. Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani (Federal Capital, PPPP) spoke for 28 minutes and Senator Sherry Rehman (Sindh, PPPP) spoke for 26 minutes.