National Assembly passes two government bills, extends timeline of an ordinance - Press Release issued by Free and Fair Election Network.

Islamabad -- May 24, 2021 (PPI-OT)

Following is the text of press release issued by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)

Quote

The National Assembly passed two government bills and adopted a resolution to extend the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 for a further period of 120 days, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet on Monday.

Following are key observations of the proceedings during fourth sitting of 33rd session:

Members' Participation

The National Assembly met for four hours and two minutes; however, the proceedings remained suspended for 37 minutes due to two prayer breaks.

The sitting started at 04:08 pm against the scheduled time of 04:00 pm.

The speaker chaired the sitting for an hour and eight minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by the deputy speaker.

The leaders of the House (Prime Minister) did not attend the sitting.

The leader of the opposition was present for 21 minutes.

As many as 69 (20 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 21 (six percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.

Only the parliamentary leader of GDA attended the sitting.

Six out of ten minority lawmakers were present.

Output

The House passed two government bills including the PAF Air War College Institute Bill, 2021 and the Pakistan Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Tabled by Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, the House adopted a resolution to extend the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 202 for a further period of 120 days with effect from June 11, 2021. Four lawmakers spoke on it for 17 minutes.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs laid Election Commission of Pakistan's annual report 2020.

Representation and Responsiveness

The House took up 12 out of 21 starred questions, while lawmakers asked 18 supplementary questions as well.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs responded to a calling attention notice (CAN) regarding non-payment of technical or...