Chapter V - SITTINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY, CLASSIFICATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF BUSINESS

[1][24.     Days and time of sitting.– (1) The Assembly shall sit on such days as the Speaker, having regard to the state of business of the Assembly, may direct from time to time.

      (2)  Every sitting of the Assembly shall commence at such hour as the Speaker may direct.

      (3)  Every sitting shall commence with recitation from the Holy Quran followed by its Urdu translation, Naat and National Anthem.]

25.       Adjournment of sitting.– Subject to these rules, the Speaker may–

      (a)     adjourn a sitting of the Assembly, sine die or otherwise; and

      (b)     if he thinks fit, call a sitting of the Assembly at a time or date different from that to which it was earlier adjourned and the change shall be intimated to the members through announcement on radio, television and newspapers.

26.       Classes of business.– (1) The business of the Assembly shall be classified as–

  (a)        Government business; or

  (b)        private members’ business.

            (2)        Government business shall include Bills, resolutions, amendments and other motions introduced or initiated by a Minister.

            (3)        Private members’ business shall include Bills, resolutions, amendments and other motions introduced or initiated by private members.

27.       Allotment of time for transaction of business.– (1) On Tuesday, no business except the private members’ business shall be transacted and on all other days no business other than Government business shall be transacted except with the consent of the Leader of the House or, in his absence, of the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs.

            (2)        If there is no sitting on Tuesday, private members’ business shall have precedence on the next working day.

            (3)        If any Tuesday is appointed by the Governor for the presentation of the Budget or is allotted by the Speaker for any stage of the Budget referred to in rule 137, a day in lieu of such Tuesday shall be set apart by the Speaker for private members’ business:

            [2][Provided that an urgent Government Bill can be introduced on private members’ day as a last item of List of Business.]

28.       Arrangement of business.– (1) The [3][Secretary General] shall arrange Government business in such order as the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs or, in his absence, any other Minister authorised by him in this behalf, may intimate on behalf of the Government.

            (2)        Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (3), on a day when private members’ business is to be transacted such business shall be taken up in the following order–

(a)  Bills to be introduced;

(b)  resolutions on matters of general public interest;

(c)  Bills which have been introduced; and

(d) any other motions.

            (3)        The Speaker may direct that Bills and resolutions may be taken up on separate days and on the day when Bills are so taken up, not more than the first half of the day shall be allowed for Bills to be introduced and the rest of the day for Bills, if any, which have advanced beyond the stage of introduction.

29.       Relative precedence of private members’ Bills.– (1) The relative precedence of private members’ Bills shall be determined by ballot.

            (2)        Unless the House otherwise decides, private members’ Bills shall be taken up in the following order–

            (a)  Bills to be introduced;

            (b)  Bills in respect of which the next stage is that the Bills be passed;

            (c)  Bills in respect of which a motion has been carried that the Bill, as reported upon by a Standing or Select Committee, be taken into consideration;

            (d) Bills in respect of which the report of the Standing or the Select Committee has been presented;

            (e)  Bills in respect of which the next stage is the presentation of the report of the Standing or the Select Committee; and

            (f)  Bills which have been circulated for eliciting public opinion.

            (3)        The relative precedence of the Bills falling under the same clause of sub-rule (2) shall be determined by ballot.

            (4)        The ballot under this rule shall be held in accordance with the procedure set out in the Third Schedule, on such day, not being less than five days before the day with reference to which the ballot is held:

            Provided that the Speaker may, from time to time, make such variations in the procedure as he thinks fit.

[4][29-A.            Procedure in respect of identical Bills.– If notices of two or more identical Bills are received, the Bill securing first place in the ballot shall be proceeded with and, in case a motion for leave to introduce the Bill securing first place in the ballot is moved, the remaining Bills shall not be proceeded with.]

30.       Precedence of Resolutions.– (1) The relative precedence of resolutions, the notices of which have been given by the private members and which have been admitted, shall be determined by ballot to be held in accordance with the procedure set out in the Third Schedule, on such day, not being less than [5][four] days before the day with reference to which the ballot is held:

            Provided that the Speaker may, from time to time, make such variations in the procedure as he thinks fit.

            (2)        A resolution which does not find place in the ballot shall not lapse but shall be included in the subsequent ballot in the same session.

31.       Precedence of motions.– The relative precedence of motions under rule 243 shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in rule 30 with the variation that reference in that rule to resolutions shall be deemed as references to motions under rule 243.

32.       List of Business.– (1) The [6][Secretary General] shall prepare a List of Business for a sitting, and make a copy thereof available to every member and any other person entitled under the Constitution to speak or otherwise take part in the proceedings of the Assembly.

            (2)        Save as otherwise provided by these rules–

            (a)  the business for the day shall be transacted in the order in which it appears in the List of Business;

            (b)  business not included in the List of Business shall not be transacted at a sitting without the leave of the Speaker; and

            (c)  no business requiring notice shall be set down for a day earlier than the day following the day on which the period of the notice necessary for that class of business expires.

            (3)        Unless the Speaker otherwise directs, not more than fifteen Bills and not more than five resolutions, excluding any resolution commenced on, and outstanding from, a previous day, shall be set down in the List of Business for a day allotted for the disposal of private members’ business.

33.       Business outstanding at the end of the day.– Subject to these rules, all business fixed for a day and not disposed of before the termination of the sitting on that day shall stand over until the next day available for such class of business or until such other day in the session so available as the member-in-charge of business may desire but private members’ business so standing over shall have no priority on such day unless it has been commenced, in which case it shall only have priority over private members’ business fixed for such day except the Bills to be introduced.

[7][33A.  Annual calendar for sessions of the Assembly.– [8][(1) At least one month before the commencement of each parliamentary year, the Government, in consultation with the Speaker, shall provide a calendar for sessions of the Assembly to be held during that parliamentary year, to the Speaker regardless of the sessions which may be summoned by the Speaker under clause (3) of Article 54, read with Article 127, of the Constitution.]

(2)  The [9][Secretary General] shall cause the calendar to be circulated amongst the members.

(3)  The Assembly shall be summoned on the dates given in the calendar but the Governor may summon the Assembly on a date other than that mentioned in the calendar.

(4)  Nothing contained in this rule shall limit the power of the Speaker to summon a requisitioned session of the Assembly to meet at any time under clause (3) of Article 54 read with Article 127.

33B.    Sessions of the Assembly.– (1) There shall be at least three sessions of the Assembly every year, and not more than one hundred and twenty days shall intervene between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.

            (2)        The Assembly shall meet for not less than one hundred working days in each parliamentary year.]