The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) released a report on the National Assembly's budget session, revealing that 99 lawmakers, or 30% of the 333-member House, maintained perfect attendance across all 15 sittings held between June 10 and June 24. Conversely, six members, representing 2% of the House, did not attend a single sitting. The report highlights a significant disparity in attendance, with 234 lawmakers (70%) missing one or more sittings.
Attendance Highlights and Key Participants
The highest attendance was recorded at the 13th sitting, where 300 MNAs (75% of the House) participated in proceedings that included voting on demands for grants and deliberations on the standing committee's FY27 budget report. The report also showed that 191 MNAs attended between eight and 14 sittings, while 37 attended no more than seven sittings during the session.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended six of the 15 sittings, while Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai attended 12. Among cabinet members elected to the National Assembly, six federal ministers and three ministers of state achieved full attendance. However, Communications Minister Aleem Khan recorded the lowest attendance among cabinet members, participating in eight sittings.
Party-wise and Regional Attendance Breakdown
Among parliamentary party leaders, PML-N's Khawaja Asif, MWM's Hameed Hussain, National Party's Pullain Baloch, BAP's Khalid Hussain Magsi, and PML-Z's Ijazul Haq maintained perfect attendance. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended four sittings, while JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was present at only two.
Attendance records showed that 48 of PML-N's 132 MNAs did not miss a single sitting, while 15 of PPP's 74 lawmakers were present throughout the session. The report also indicated that 27 of the 75 independent MNAs, four of whom sit on the treasury benches, attended every sitting.
Punjab recorded the highest number of lawmakers with perfect attendance, with 53 MNAs attending all sittings, followed by 25 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Notably, six Punjab legislators did not attend a single sitting.
Gender Disparity and Question Hour Participation
Fafen found that women legislators maintained a higher attendance rate than their male counterparts throughout the 15-sitting session. Of the 10 cabinet members scheduled to answer questions during Question Hour, six were present, while parliamentary secretaries represented the remaining ministries. Two of the four ministers expected to respond to Calling Attention Notices also attended the session.
