• FAFEN data shows that 235 members lost at least one meeting
• 156 legislators remained absent without submitting license requests
Islamabad: Only 78 members of the National Assembly (MNA) attended all the situations during the budget session last month, while 10 did not attend a single session, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The budget session, which lasted 13 sessions from June 5 to 27, was affected by the bad assistance of the AMN, particularly from the treasure side, which forced legislators to point out the absence of government ministers.
The protest led the speaker to the direct members of the Government who have portfolios related to finance to attend the sessions.
However, the Minister of Finance, who is a senator, attended nine, or 69 percent of the sessions, according to a report published by the free and fair election network (Fafen).
The Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary of Finance and Income, both MNA, were present at 11 or 85 percent of sessions.
In particular, the Minister of Economic Affairs, also Senator, did not attend any session during the session, although his portfolio was closely related to the problems discussed during the budget session.
According to the report, 83pc of members in the 336 seats were present on June 10 when the Finance Law draft was introduced, 2025.
However, as the discussion progressed to general issues, assistance decreased, reaching its lowest point, 57pc, in the third session.
The assistance resurfaced again at 79pc on the last day of the discussion, which also included deliberations on recommendations of the Senate and loaded expenses.
A marked increase towards the end of the session was observed, and the assistance increased above 9 percent during the vote of the demands for subsidies and the draft finance law.
The greatest assistance was 93pc, registered on the day the Finance Bill was approved.
An analysis of the requests for assistance and license read during the procedure showed that 235 members, or 75pc of the current force, at least one session was lost during the budget session.
However, only 79 members submitted license requests for their absence. Of these, 13 requested license in advance, while 46 submitted the application while I was licensed or after returning.
The license applications of the remaining 20 legislators were read in a day that fell in the mid -absence.
Up to 46 members sought approval throughout the duration of their absence, while the remaining 36 were absent for a longer time than the number of days for which they had requested a license.
Up to 156 members remained absent without sending any request during the session.
A total of 22 MNA female, including 19 in reserved seats and three in general seats attended all sessions.
Meanwhile, the seven minority members attended more than half of the sessions, including three who attended all sessions.
Among the MNA male chosen in the general seats, 10 did not attend any session, 35 were present in less than half of the sessions and 208 attended more than half of the sessions. Meanwhile, 54 were present in each session.
Among the members of the Cabinet, the Federal Ministers of Parliamentary Affairs and the Public Affairs Unit attended all sessions.
Similarly, the Ministers of State for the development of Pakistanis and human resources abroad, national food security and research, and religious affairs and interreligious harmony were present throughout the session.
Most PML-N legislators, PPP, MQM-P and Sunita Ittehad (sic) council attended more than half of the sessions.
The only member of Majlis Wahdat-I-Muslimeen Pakistan attended all the sitations.
The legislators of the Awami party of Baluchistan, the National Party and the PML-ZIA attended more than half of the sessions.
The only representative of the PKMAP attended less than half of the sessions.
Posted in Dawn, July 23, 2025
