PILDAT releases Parliament Update for 39th Session of National Assembly and 316th Session of the Senate

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  1. Only 19% agenda could be discussed during the National Assembly Session while Senate disposed of 92% agenda
  2. Lack of Quorum forces adjournment of half the National Assembly sittings while all Senate sittings remain intact
  3. National Assembly sittings on average lasted for just 39 minutes; Senate met for 3 hours per sitting on average

National Assembly holds 6 Sittings during 39th Session

The 15th National Assembly of Pakistan held 6 sittings during 39th session held from December 22-31, 2021. These sittings were held on December 22, December 24, December 27, December 29, December 30, December 31.

Working Hours

During the 39th session, the National Assembly met for only 3 hours and 58 minutes with an average time of 39 minutes per sitting. The longest sitting lasted for 1 hour and 3 minutes held on December 30, 2021 while the shortest sitting was held only for 12 minutes on December 31, 2021. All 6 sittings were held with an average delay of 43 minutes per sitting.

Agenda Items Left Over

On the average only 19% of the agenda items listed in the Orders of the Day were taken up during the 39th National Assembly session while 81.02% agenda items were left over. The maximum agenda items, i.e., 96.97% were left over on December 24, 2021 while the minimum agenda items left over (27.78%) were on December 30.

Legislation

During the 39th session of the National Assembly, 2 Government bills were introduced while no Private Member’s Bill was introduced. No bill was passed during this session and only one bill was referred to the committee. No new ordinance was laid in the National Assembly and 8 Ordinances were extended during the session.

Quorum Pointed Out

Out of 6 sittings held during 39th session, quorum was pointed out in 4 (66.67%) sittings out of which 3 or 50% sittings were adjourned.

Attendance

Both Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition did not attend any sitting during the 39th session. As far as the attendance of MNAs is concerned, average attendance of MNAs during the session was 63.16% (216 MNAs present per sitting). It is rather difficult to explain that if over 60% MNAs were present on the average, how could the house be out of quorum (which is just 25%) in half the sittings. 

Most Vocal MNAs

Mr. Asad Mahmood, MNA, (NA-37 Tank, KP, MMAP) was the most vocal MNA during 39th session of the National Assembly. He spoke for a total of 15 minutes and 20 seconds. He was followed by Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, MNA (NA-58 Rawalpindi-II, Punjab, PPPP) who spoke for almost 13 minutes.

Senate holds 4 Sittings during 316th Session

The Senate of Pakistan held 4 sittings during 316th session held from December 22-29, 2021. These were held on December 22, December 24, December 27 and December 29.

Working Hours

The Senate met for 12 hours and 2 minutes during 316th session with an average time of 3 hours per sitting. The longest sitting lasted 4 hours and 26 minutes on December 27, 2021 while the shortest sitting lasted for 1 hour and 59 minutes on December 22, 2021. Level of punctuality was rather good as the sittings were held with an average delay of just 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Legislation

During 316th session of the Senate, no Government bill was introduced while 3 Private Member’s Bills were introduced which were referred to relevant committees. Total 3 bills were passed during the session. No Ordinance was laid or extended during the whole session.

Agenda Items Left Over

On an average Senate disposed off 92% of the agenda during the session while 8.01% of the agenda was left over. The maximum agenda items left over were 18.18% on December 27 while the minimum, i.e., 4.76% were left over on December 29.

Quorum Pointed Out

Quorum was not pointed out during the whole session.

Attendance

Average attendance of Senators during 316th session was recorded at 66% (66 Senators present per sitting).

Top 5 Vocal Senators

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed (KP, JIP) was the most vocal Senator during 316th session of the Senate. He spoke for a total of 54 minutes and 55 seconds. He was followed by Senator Dr. Shahzad Waseem, (Punjab, PTI) Leader of the House, who spoke for 40 minutes and 5 seconds.