The National Assembly, which resumed its proceedings after a two-day break on Monday, failed to take up any agenda item due to a lack of quorum pointed out by Syed Agha Rafiullah of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The session was adjourned to meet again today at 4pm. Initially, the proceeding remained suspended for almost 30 minutes but Presiding Officer Amjid Ali Khan adjourned the house after a re-count.
Besides taking up the question-hour, the NA was set to discuss two calling attention notices on matters of public importance, including a lack of “government soft conventional training skills in Islamabad” and “an acute shortage of urea in the country”. Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar was to introduce a bill to amend the Private Power and Infrastructure Board Act, 2012.
Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin was expected to lay before the National Assembly the statement of contingent liabilities of the federal government for the current fiscal year while Minister for Law and Justice Muhammad Farogh Naseem was to table the annual report of the Council of Islamic Ideology for the period from 2012-2018 and the report on “Islamic Law of Inheritance” as required by clause (4) of Article 230 of the constitution.
Three government bills – The Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill-2021, The Pakistan Global Institute Bill 2021 and The Pakistan Maritime Zones Bill 2021 were also to be tabled in the NA. Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul was to move a motion that the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2021 should be referred to the joint sitting for consideration and passage.
A debate on the situation arising out of the killing of a Sri Lankan factory manager by a mob in Sialkot and a motion of thanks to express gratitude to the president of Pakistan for addressing both houses of parliament on September 13, 2021 were also among the agenda items.
Separately, the Ministry of Law and Justice said on Monday that training is being provided to prosecutors, investigators and representatives of law enforcement agencies about modern forensic and investigation techniques in the Federal Judicial Academy on the directives of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC).
In a written reply, the minister said that the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center has been established for family cases in Islamabad.
“The Federal Judicial Complex had been established in Islamabad to bring the scattered special courts under the same roof. Infrastructure, including budget and human resources, had been provided to these special courts.
Vacant positions in the special courts have mostly been filled. As per the NJPMC, the legal aid and justice authority had been established for providing a legal and institutional framework to promote access to justice by providing affordable, accessible, sustainable, credible and accountable legal aid, financial or other services to the poor and vulnerable sections of society in criminal matters.”
