ISLAMABAD: A report by the Free and Truthful Election Community (FAFEN) has revealed alarmingly low attendance through the twentieth session of Pakistan’s Nationwide Meeting, with solely 17 p.c of members attending all sittings and 11 p.c absent for the whole session.
The six-sitting session, held between September 29 and October 10, noticed vital absenteeism. Based on FAFEN, 55 lawmakers attended all sittings, whereas 37 skipped the whole session. The primary sitting recorded the best attendance with 224 members (69 p.c) current, whereas the third sitting noticed the bottom, with simply 155 members (47 p.c). General, 272 MNAs (83 p.c) missed no less than one sitting — 90 of whom utilized for official go away, whereas 182 have been absent with out submitting go away purposes.
Amongst cupboard members, just one federal minister and one minister of state attended all sittings. Six federal ministers and one state minister didn’t attend any, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was additionally marked absent all through the session.
A protest erupted within the Press Gallery when journalists staged a walkout after a PTI member used abusive language towards senior journalist Aijaz Ahmed. The Speaker later directed some lawmakers to fulfill the protesting journalists. Regardless of the disruption, the Home handed the Asaan Karobar Invoice 2025 throughout the identical sitting.
FAFEN famous that the Query Hour was deferred, suspended, or poorly attended in most sittings. Within the closing sitting, questions for 9 ministries have been listed, however solely three ministries — Planning, Improvement and Particular Initiatives; Federal Schooling and Skilled Coaching; and Finance and Income — have been taken up, with none of their ministers current. Out of 29 ministers designated to reply, solely 5 confirmed up through the session.
Regional information confirmed various attendance ranges:
Islamabad: 2 of three MNAs attended all sittings.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 40 MNAs (75%) attended greater than half the sittings; 16 attended all.
Sindh: 11 MNAs attended all sittings.
Balochistan: 10 MNAs (50%) attended greater than half; 4 attended all.
Punjab: recorded the bottom participation — 51 p.c attended lower than half the sittings.
In gender comparability, 67 p.c of feminine MNAs attended greater than half of the sittings, with 21 sustaining full attendance. Six feminine MNAs, together with one on a basic seat, didn’t attend any sitting.
Celebration-wise, most members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Muttahida Qaumi Motion Pakistan (MQMP), Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) attended greater than half of the sittings. The Nationwide Celebration (NP) recorded excellent attendance, whereas members of PML-Zia and PKMAP have been among the many least current.
FAFEN’s findings spotlight a regarding sample of parliamentary absenteeism, elevating questions over legislative accountability and public illustration within the nation’s prime lawmaking physique.
