NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FAFEN PARLIAMENT MONITOR 18th Session January 01 - January 15, 2020

ABBREVIATIONS

ANP AWAMI NATIONAL PARTY AMLP AWAMI MUSLIM LEAGUE PAKISTAN

BNP BALOCHISTAN NATIONAL PARTY CANS CALLING ATTENTION NOTICES IND INDEPENDENT MEMBER MQMP MUTTAHIDA QAUMI MOVEMENT PAKISTAN PML PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE PML-N PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (NAWAZ) PPPP PARLIAMENTARIANS

PTI PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF GDA GRAND DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE BAP BALOCHISTAN AWAMI PARTY JWP JAMHOORI WATTAN PARTY MMAP MUTTAHIDA MAJLIS-E-AMAL PAKISTAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Session Number ADDRESSES 46% AGENDA DURING 18TH SESSION

18  176 lawmakers remain inactive during the proceedings

 House approves legislation on Services Chiefs’ Appointment and Extension

 74 percent starred questions remained Total unaddressed Days The National Assembly addressed 46 percent of its scheduled business during its 18th session that continued between January 1 and January 15, 2020. FAFEN observed low participation of lawmaker as more than fifty percent (176 out of 342) lawmakers did not participate in the pro- ceedings. The House passed 13 government bills including three legis- 15 lative proposals to amend the procedures for appointment and exten- sion of armed forces’ chiefs and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, observes Free and Fair Election Network in its session re- port. The regular and supplementary agenda brought before the House during 18th session comprised 96 private members’ bill and 18 govern- Working ment bills, 11 resolutions, 16 Calling Attention Notices (CANs), 32 stand- Days ing committee reports and a statutory report, ten motions under Rule- 259, a motion of thanks and two motions seeking amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly. Of 342 lawmakers, 166 (49 percent) including 122 men and 44 women contributed to the proceedings of the House by sponsoring various 15 parliamentary interventions and/or contributing in the debates. Among the participating lawmakers, 68 belonged to PTI, 41 to PML-N, 28 to PPPP, 14 to MMAP, six to MQMP, three to BAP and two each to BNP-M, PML and Independent. On the other hand, as many as 176 (51 percent) lawmakers including 151 men and 25 women did not participate in the proceedings Total throughout the session. The lawmakers who did not participate in the proceedings belonged to PTI (88), PML-N (43), PPPP (27), PML and GDA Sittings (three each), MMAP, BAP, MMAP, Independent (two each) and one each to AMLP, ANP, JWP and MQMP.

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION The House proceedings commenced with an average delay of 37 minutes in each sitting while none of the sitting started on its scheduled time. The maximum delay of 59 minutes was witnessed during third sit- 11 ting. The shortest sitting during the session i.e. third sitting, continued for 16 minutes, whereas the longest sitting i.e. fourth sitting, continued for four hours and 28 minutes.

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The quorum surfaced twice throughout the session which led to the Members at suspension of the proceedings while protests-cum-walkout were wit- nessed during 5th session by MMAP and two Independent lawmakers Start (Average) against passage of bills regarding extension of armed forces’ chiefs

and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

75 1 Session, Duration and Attendance The 18th session of the National Assembly comprised 11 sittings span- ning over 15 working days and held between January 1, 2020 and Jan- uary 15, 2020. The cumulative duration of the sittings was 28 hours and 21 minutes including a period of five hours and one minute when the proceedings remained suspended due to prayer breaks or suspension Members at due to lack of quorum. Each sitting, on an average, started around 37 End (Average) minutes behind the scheduled time and lasted two hours and 36 minutes. The Prime Minister attended one sitting (one percent of the proceed- ings’ time) and the Leader of the Opposition did not attend any of the sitting. The parliamentary leader of BAP and PPPP attended all 11 sit- 95 tings and was followed by PML and PML-N who attended 10 sittings each. Moreover, MMAP leader attended six sittings, ANP and MQM four each and AMLP and GDA three sittings each during the session. According to the headcount conducted by FAFEN observer, an aver- age of 75 lawmakers were present at the start and 95 at the adjourn- ment of each sitting. Maximum The Speaker attended seven sittings and presided over the session for Members ten hours and 55 minutes (38 percent of the proceedings), the Deputy (Average) Speaker was present in four and chaired the proceedings for three hours and 37 minutes (12 percent of the proceedings) while a member of Panel of Chairpersons chaired the proceedings for nine hours and 236 six minutes (32% of the proceedings).

Minority Members (Average) SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION 06

www.fafen.org 04 SITTINGS DURATION (hh:mm)

KEY MEMBERS’ ATTENDANCE

Speaker Deputy Speaker Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition

Attended Presided over Attended Presided over Attended Spent Attended Spent 7 38% 4 13% 1 1% 0 0% Sittings Proceedings Sittings Proceedings Sittings time in the House Sittings time in the House * The Panel of Chairpersons presided over the proceedings for 32% of the session’s time while17% was consumed in breaks & suspensions.

MEMBERS’ ATTENDANCE

Members at Outset Members at End

PARLIAMENTARY LEADERS ATTENDANCE

Khalid Hussain Magsi Syed Naveed Qammar Ch. Khawaja M. Asif 11 11 10 10 Attended Attended Attended Attended

Asad Mehmood Amir Haider Azam Khan Ghous Bux Mahar 06 04 04 03 Attended Attended Attended Attended

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed M. Akhtar Mengal 03 00 Attended Attended 2 Assembly Output

Total This section deals with the legislative business, resolutions, amendment Bills to the rules, reports and documents presented before the House dur-

ing the session.

2.1 Legislation 114 The legislative agenda brought before the House during the 18th ses- sion comprised 114 legislative proposals including 96 private members' bills and 18 government bills. The House passed 13 government bills, referred three government and 22 private members’ bills to relevant committees, deferred or not considered one government and 70 pri- vate members’ bills. Four private members’ bills were withdrawn and Government dropped one government bill. Bills The male private lawmakers moved 15 bills while the female lawmak- ers initiated seven bills during the session. Moreover, the private law- makers belonging to PTI moved 15 bills followed by PML-N (four), PPPP, 18 MMAP & MQM (one each). 2.1.1 Passed Government Bills

1. The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Bill, 2019

The bill proposes to provide legal support to the requesting state (foreign country) by executing necessary actions on its territory in crimi- nal cases warranting shared assistance. Private Members’ Bills  Mover: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs ()

 Date of Introduction: September 13, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 6, 2020 96 2. The Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020

The bill proposes amendments in the procedures for appointment and extension of Chief of Army Staff and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

 Mover: Minister of Defense (Pervez Khattak) Legislation Passed  Date of Introduction: January 3, 2020

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 7, 2020

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION 3. The Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2020 13 The bill proposes amendments in the procedures for appointment and extension of Chief of Air Staff and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

www.fafen.org 07  Mover: Minister of Defense (Pervez Khattak)

Government Bills  Date of Introduction: January 3, 2020

Referred to  Date of Passage of Bill: January 7, 2020 Committee

4. The Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill, 2020

The bill proposes amendments in the procedures for appointment and extension of Chief of Naval Staff and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff 03 Committee.

 Mover: Minister of Defense (Pervez Khattak)

 Date of Introduction: January 3, 2020

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 7, 2020 Private Bills Referred to Committee 5. The Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2019

The bill provides for an efficacious and speedy mechanism for facilitat- ing issuance of Letter of Administration and Succession Certificates. The Act also aimed at curtailing fraud and forgery in the matters relat- 22 ed with the Succession Certificates.  Mover: Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice (Maleeka Ali Bukhari)

 Date of Introduction: May 2, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020 Non-considered Government Bills 6. The Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2019 The bill is aimed at providing legal, financial and added assistance for access to justice to the poor and vulnerable segments of society. Mover: Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice (Maleeka Ali Bu- 01 khari)  Date of Introduction: May 2, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020

Non-considered 7. The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Bill, 2019 Private Members’ It seeks to enforce women's rights to property and ensure women get Bills their due share in inheritance. Mover: Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice (Maleeka Ali Bu- SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION khari) 70  Date of Introduction: May 2, 2019  Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020

www.fafen.org 08 8. The Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Bill, 2019 Men Sponsoring It aims to abolish the prevailing compulsory dress of judges of the Su- Legislation preme Court and high courts while holding judicial proceedings or at-

tending State or ceremonial functions and mode of address to them. Articles 191 and 202 of the Constitution empower Supreme Court and high courts to make rules regulating their own practice and proce- dure. Therefore, the matter pertaining to dress and mode of address 14 may be regulated by them.  Mover: Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice (Maleeka Ali Bukhari)

 Date of Introduction: September 13, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020 Women

Sponsoring Legislation 9. The Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill, 2019 It proposes a response and recovery mechanism for missing children. It suggests to set up the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA), where missing child cases will be reported. The bill also pro- poses a maximum life imprisonment and action against those police 09 officials who delay the investigation.  Mover: Minister for Human Rights ()

 Date of Introduction: April 24, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020

10. The ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2018

It aims to protect and promote rights of people living with disabilities

 Mover: Minister for Human Rights (Shireen Mazari)

 Date of Introduction: December 21, 2018

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 10, 2020

11. The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2020

It aims to convert Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) into Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA). It aims at planning and development of housing schemes for serving and retired federal government employees and other speci- fied groups. The maintenance of existing schemes was not possible un-

til the foundation was not given the status of an authority SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION Earlier, foundation was not a regulatory body and it had to go through a lengthy process of seeking permissions and NOCs from different au- thorities for launching its projects. The maintenance of existing schemes is not possible until the foundation is not given the status of an authority.

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 Mover: Minister for Housing and Works (Tariq Bashir Cheema) Total Resolutions On Agenda  Date of Introduction: December 21, 2018

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 13, 2020

12. The Banks (Nationalization) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 10 It aims to bring all non-banking institutions, including National Invest- ment Trust Limited (NITL) under the regulatory purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

 Mover: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs (Ali Muhammad Khan)

Supplementary  Date of Introduction: September 13, 2019 Resolution  Date of Passage of Bill: January 13, 2020

13. The University of Islamabad Bill, 2019

It proposes for establishment of University of Islamabad which would 01 provide education and scholarship in such branches of knowledge as it may deem fit and to make provision for research, service to society and for the application, advancement and dissemination of knowledge in such manner as it may determine in accordance with the guidelines of the professional accreditation councils.

Adopted  Mover: Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education and Profes- Resolution sional Training (Wajiha Akram)

 Date of Introduction: May 9, 2019

 Date of Passage of Bill: January 15, 2020 01 2.2 Resolutions

A total of ten resolutions appeared on the list of business of the Nation- al Assembly during 18th session and not a single resolution was consid- ered. In addition, the House unanimously adopted a resolution moved Unaddressed by PML lawmaker as supplementary agenda. The adopted resolution Resolutions recommended ban on import, publication, distribution and sale of ma- terial containing blasphemous contents in the country in electronic, print and social media. SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION 10 Resolutions on Agenda: 10 Supplementary Resolutions: 01

www.fafen.org 10 2.3 Reports

Total As many as 28 reports of the Standing Committees on as many legisla- tive proposal and a statutory report was presented in the House during Reports & Papers the session. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice presented 14

reports on legislative proposals, three reports each were presented by Standing Committees on Interior, Defence and Human Rights, two re- ports were presented by Committee on Federal Education and Profes- sional Training and one each was presented by the Standing Commit- 33 tee on Cabinet Secretariat, Rules of Procedure and Privileges and Na- tional Food Security and Research. The government also laid the first Quarterly Report of the Board of Di- rectors of State Bank of Pakistan on the state of the Economy for the financial year 2019-2020 in compliance with Section 9A(2) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956. Standing Another four Standing Committee reports on as many legislative pro- Committee posals were not taken up during the session. Three non-considered re- Reports ports were related to the Standing Committee on National Health Ser- vices, Regulations and Coordination and one was related to the Standing Committee for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony.

Standing Committee No of Reports Presented 28 Law and Justice 14 Human Rights 3 Defence 3 Interior 3 Federal Education and Professional 2 Total Cabinet Secretariat 1 Amendment Rules of Procedure and Privileges 1 Motions National Food Security and Research 1 Total 28

2.4 Amendments in Assembly Rules 02 The House did not take up two motions proposing amendment in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly, 2007. Both motions were sponsored by a PTI lawmaker who proposed to amend the Assembly’s rules for limiting the days allocated for dis- cussion of the Presidential address to ten working days.

Not Taken Up Amendments SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION 02

www.fafen.org 11 3 Representation and Responsiveness Total Questions This section gives statistical as well as qualitative overview of legislator's

interventions in the House – Questions, Calling Attention Notices

(CANs), Motions under Rule 259 or any other motions – for the oversight of government and to articulate issues of public interest and im- 375 portance. 3.1 Questions

The House held question hour during six out of eleven sittings in the ses- sion. The question hour was not held during two regular sitting because of motion moved by Minister for State for Parliamentary Affairs to sus- Starred pended rules while during one regular sitting, all questions were de- Questions ferred due to lack of quorum. The remaining two days were allocated for Private Members business.

A total of 375 (247-starred, 128-unstarred) questions were raised during the session. Out of 247 Starred Questions, the House addressed 55 247 (22%) questions while leaving the remaining 192 (78%) questions un- addressed due to absence of the movers, the concerned ministers or opposition's refusal to move their questions. In addition, the lawmakers asked 121 supplementary questions.

The starred and un-starred questions appearing on the list were ad- dressed to ministries or departments of the government and their Un-Starred break-up was as following: Questions Ministries/Departments Starred Un-Starred Total Ques- Questions Questions tions Energy (Power Division) 35 28 63

Interior 25 18 43

128 National Health Services, Regula- 24 14 38 tions and Coordination Communication 16 10 26

Energy (Petroleum Division) 17 8 25

Finance & Revenue 11 12 23 Questions Remained Industries & Production 9 6 15 Unaddressed Housing & Works 8 6 14

Federal Education and Professional 10 3 13 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION Training Commerce 13 - 13 192 Foreign Affairs 13 - 13 Water Resources 6 4 10

www.fafen.org 12 Ministries/Departments Starred Un-Starred Total Questions Questions Questions Railways 4 3 7

National Food Security and Re- 4 3 7

Aviation Division 4 2 6 Human Rights 3 3 6 Poverty Alleviation and Social 3 3 6

Climate Change Division 5 - 5 Establishment Division 5 - 5 Information and Broadcasting 4 1 5

Planning, Development and Re- 5 - 5

Inter-Provincial Coordination 3 1 4 Cabinet Division 2 1 3 Economic Affairs 2 1 3 Information Technology 1 1 2

Maritime Affairs 2 - 2 Overseas Pakistanis and Human 2 - 2

Religious Affairs and Inter-faith 2 - 2

Science and Technology 2 - 2 States and Frontier Regions 2 - 2 Law and Justice 1 - 1 Narcotics Control 1 - 1 Parliamentary Affairs 1 - 1 Prime Minister’s Office 1 - 1 Privatization 1 - 1 Total 247 128 375

As many as 75 lawmakers (45 men and 30 women) belonging to vari- ous political parties used their right of execution oversight through ask- ing questions on the performance of government departments. During the reporting period, men legislators raised 248 questions including 156 starred and 92 un-starred questions while women MNAs raised 127 questions of which 91 for oral reply and 36 for written reply.

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION The party wise breakup of members who used questions as a tool for executive oversight showed that 24 lawmakers belonging to PML-N asked most starred (76) and un-starred (49) questions followed by 20 lawmakers belonging to PPPP who raised 75 starred and 37 un-starred questions, 20 PTI members who raised 55 starred and 26 un-starred questions, seven MNAs of MMA who raised 31 starred and 13 un-

www.fafen.org 13 starred questions, two BNP lawmakers who raised six starred questions, a BAP lawmaker raised three starred and one un-starred question Total while a MQM lawmaker raised one starred and two un-starred ques- tions.

CANs

3.22.1 CallingQuestions Attention Notices

The Lower House took up 13 out of 16 Call Attention Notices (CANs) appearing on the agenda during 18th session. The addressed CANs 16 highlighted issues related non-implementation on FATA reforms in true spirit, unprecedented load shedding of the natural gas across the country, closure of old Lake view park for the visitors, locust attacks in the various districts of Sindh, non-installation of bio-metric system in Dis- trict Buner for pilgrims, electricity connections for tube wells for com- munity-based supply schemes in ICT, delay in laying of electricity trans- mission lines in Chitral, unprecedented electricity load shedding in dis- CANs trict Karak, cases of child molestation in Mansehra, Gas load shedding Addressed and stoppage of ongoing Gas supply projects in Punjab, non-provision and shortage of Gas in Sindh, closure of Land Custom Station, NLC dry port Hyderabad and delay in construction work of bridge to connect Karachi Port with Port Qasim. Among the 13 responded CANs, six were related to Energy depart- 13 ment while on each was concerning to Maritime Affairs, Religious Af- fairs and Inter-faith Harmony, National Food Security and Research, Human Rights, Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, States and Frontier Regions and Interior ministry. Another two CANs questioning the performance of the National Disas- CANs ter Management Authority in recent heavy snowfall in Balochistan and increase in Polio cases across the country were not taken up while a Not Taken Up/ CAN calling the attention of government on problems being faced by Dropped the sugarcane growers due to non-purchase of sugarcane on support price was dropped due to absence of its mover.

3.3 Motions

The House skipped ten Motions under Rule 259 appearing on the 03 agenda during the session. These motions proposed discussion on vari- ous issues related to governance. Another two motions including a motion of thanks regarding Presidential address to the Parliament and a motion under Rule 87 regarding discontinuation of free of cost medi- cines to the cancer patients by the government also remained un- addressed during the session. Total MUR 259 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION 05

www.fafen.org 14 4 Order and Institutionalization Total Points of Order Order and institutionalization are important for an efficient and pro-

ductive legislature. This section provides information about the mem-

bers' Question of Privilege, Points of Order, Quorum and any instances of walkout, protest or boycott during the proceeding.

31 4.1 Points of Order As many as 31 Points of Order (POs) were raised in the House consum- ing an hour and 31 minutes of the proceedings. These POs highlighted the issues related to House business, law and order, economic affairs, energy crisis and political issues.

Walkouts/Protests 4.2 Protest and Walkouts The House witnessed two incidents of walkouts by the opposition dur- ing the session. The MMAP lawmakers and an independent lawmaker walked out during the proceedings in fifth sitting against the passage 02 of the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

4.3 Quorum The lawmakers belonging to PTI and PML-N identified the lack of quor- um during 2nd and 7th sitting respectively. The quorum was not found complete upon headcount which led to suspension of the proceed- Instances of ings on both occasions. identification of Quorum

02 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS SESSION

www.fafen.org 15 About FAFEN

 FAFEN is one of the most credible networks of civil society organizations work- ing for strengthening citizens' voice and accountability in Pakistan since 2006.

 FAFEN has harnessed information technology for real-time monitoring, facilita- tion and technical backstopping of partners for effective and result-based pro- gram delivery.

 FAFEN is the only civil society group to have been invited by the Judicial Com- mission to present the evidence of illegalities and irregularities documented through the course of General Elections 2013 Observation. The systemic and procedural issues identified by FAFEN have been acknowledged by the com- mission in its detailed findings.

 FAFEN's recommendations for electoral reforms have contributed to the work of Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms.

 FAFEN's advocacy for parliamentary transparency, accountability and reforms has shaped public discourse on parliamentary reforms. Improved citizens' ac- cess to parliamentary information including daily public release of parliamen- tarians' attendance records can be directly attributed to FAFEN's work.

 FAFEN deployed 18,000 and 40,000 non-partisan and trained observers for the systematic observation of general election 2008 and 2013, respectively, largest citizens' observation ever undertaken in Pakistan.

 FAFEN's evidence and recommendations for reforms have improved the quali- ty of public and political discourse on elections, its issues and need for reforms. Leading political parties and media houses extensively use FAFEN's election findings and analysis to build a case for reforms.

 With more than 25,000 followers on Twitter and around 144,000 on Facebook, FAFEN is considered one of the most reliable sources of electoral and parlia- mentary information in the country.