By Hamid Khan Wazir
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: In what seems to be a clear manifestation of the non-seriousness on the part of the government and opposition, the proceedings of the lower house were suspended without addressing any agenda item.
The lack of quorum in the National Assembly became a source of concern for the treasury, as the government’s ministers miserably failed to bring its members to the house to discuss the important agenda items.
Keeping the practice alive, on Friday, as the proceedings of the lower house started headed by Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri. As per rules of procedure and conduct of business in National Assembly, the question hour was announced by the Chair for the first hour of the sitting when a Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) lawmaker Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das pointed out the quorum.
The Chair directed for counting and eventually announced to adjourn the House due to lack of quorum.
It is pertinent to mention here that out of the five sittings of the ongoing 36th Session, it was the third sitting which faced quorum issue and was adjourned. The 3rd sitting on September 21, 2021 also faced a quorum issue but it was adjourned by the Chair without counting.
The next sitting would be held on September 27, 2021 at 1700 hour.
The entire legislative business remained unaddressed during the sitting which included the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Bill, 2021; the Federal Government Properties Management Authority Ordinance, 2021 and the Elections (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
