National Assembly adjourned due to lack of quorum for third day

Published January 20, 2022
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser (second from top right) stands at the start of the NA session on Wednesday. — Photo via NA of Pakistan Twitter
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser (second from top right) stands at the start of the NA session on Wednesday. — Photo via NA of Pakistan Twitter

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was adjourned within minutes and without taking up any agenda item due to lack of quorum for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.

The quorum was pointed out by Riazul Haq of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz soon after the recitation from the Holy Quran and playing of the national anthem. Speaker Asad Qaiser, who had announced opening of the question hour, ordered a head count and adjourned the sitting till Friday morning after finding the house not in order due to lack of quorum, for which the presence of 86 members (one-fourth of the total house strength) is required.

On Monday, Agha Rafiullah of the Pakistan Peoples Party had pointed out lack of quorum in protest against the absence of the ministers from the house whereas on Tuesday, the quorum had been pointed out by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement when the chair did not give floor to one of the party lawmakers to speak on the issue of the problems being faced by the people of Karachi.

The quorum has become a chronic problem with the National Assembly as according to a report of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, 24 out of the 79 total sittings were adjourned due to lack of quorum during the third parliamentary year ended in August last year.

Interestingly, the assembly record shows that the members do come to the Parliament House, but only to mark their attendance.

Meanwhile, in a written reply to a question, the house was informed that the latest data from Global Burden of Disease Study showed that there were over 8.9 million diabetic patients in Pakistan in 2019.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

IHK resolution
Updated 08 Nov, 2024

IHK resolution

If the BJP administration were to listen to Kashmiris, it could pave the way for the resumption of the political process in IHK.
Climate realities
08 Nov, 2024

Climate realities

THE Air Quality Index in Lahore once again shot past the 1,000-level mark on Wednesday morning, registering at an...
Rule by fear
08 Nov, 2024

Rule by fear

THE abduction of an opposition MNA, as claimed by PTI, is yet another grim episode in Pakistan’s ongoing crisis of...
Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...