Lawmakers pass budget in just over 34 hours

The National Assembly spent just 34 hours and 25 minutes debating the budget, well over five hours less than last year. The total amount of time spent on debating the budget last year was 39 hours and 53 minutes.

The number of legislators taking part in the debate also declined: Less than half or 145 of the 342 members took part in the debate. The budget for fiscal year 2010-11 was presented in the National Assembly on June 5, the debate started on June 8 and closed on June 18. It was approved on it on June 25. The debate lasted just 10 days.

Only 48 of PPP’s 125 MNAs participated in the debate for an average of nine hours and 53 minutes.

Some prominent PPP figures who did not speak on the budget include Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower Khursheed Shah, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar.

Nearly half of Pakistan Muslim League lawmakers took part in the debate: 48 of them attended the budget sessions out of 95 MNAs, and they spent slightly more time too – 11 hours and 59 minutes.

The longest speech was made by Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who spoke for one hour and 45 minutes.

PML-Q lawmakers’ performance was also at par with the PML-N’s: Of the 54 MNAs, 21 took part in the debate, spending five hours 50 minutes.

Of the seven JUI-F MNAs, only one spoke for 15 minutes.

Neither Maulana Fazlur Rehman nor his brother, the Federal Minister for Tourism Maulana Lutfur Rehman, spoke on the budget.  Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s performance was far better: 15 of their 25 MNA s took part in the debate, speaking for three hours and 34 minutes.

Of the 13 Awami National Party MNAs, only four took part in the budget debate for just one hour. Only five out of the 15 independent members spoke on the budget.

Published in  The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2010.