Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly proceedings on Tuesday had to be adjourned twice due to lack of quorum.

The National Assembly met under the chair of Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who suspended the proceeding of the house when Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani of Pakistan Peoples’ Party pointed out the quorum.

Leader of Opposition Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah expressed annoyance over the absence of ministers from the house and said: “I will not allow the proceedings to continue in this situation.”

After half an hour, the proceeding was resumed again under the chair of Mahmood Bashir Virk, a member of panel of chairpersons.

Before pointing out of the quorum again, the Minimum Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Redistributive Land Reforms Bill, 2017 were introduced. They were referred to relevant committees for further deliberations.

The House dropped the Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2017 due to absence of the lawmaker concerned. The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was deferred due to the absence of minister concerned.

The quorum was pointed out again by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Mussarat Ahmadzeb and the sitting was adjourned.

The session will resume on Wednesday at 10:30 am in Parliament House. The National Assembly is expected to pass a resolution to condemn the atrocities being committed against Rohingya in Myanmar.

Published in Daily Times, September 13^th 2017.