14% MNAs attend all sittings, 9% none during 16th NA session: Fafen­

ISLAMABAD: As many as 45 (14 percent) Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) attended all sittings, whereas 27 (nine percent) did not attend any sitting during the 16th session of the National Assembly that spanned over 13 sittings between May 5 and 22, 2025.

According to Fafen’s National Assembly Attendance Report Card — 16th Session, consistent with the previous sessions, female attendance was generally higher than that of their male counterparts during the reporting session.

The highest attendance was recorded during the first sitting, with 237 members (76 percent of the current membership) present. According to Fafen’s National Assembly Attendance Report Card – 16th Session, The Prime Minister attended one sitting while the Leader of the Opposition attended two (15 percent) sittings.

During this sitting, the House suspended its regular agenda by adopting a motion to this effect under Rule 288 to discuss the recent Pakistan-India conflict.

The lowest attendance was observed during the last sitting, with only 174 members (55 percent) present. This sitting was initially adjourned after just 13 minutes when a lawmaker from the Sunni Ittehad Council pointed out the lack of quorum. This prompted the Speaker to suspend the proceedings for 15 minutes.

The House later reconvened and, during the resumed session, passed The Off the Grid (Captive Power Plants) Levy Bill, 2025. The bill was not included on the regular Orders of the Day while the lawmakers raised concerns on the passage of bill by disregarding the complete legislative procedure. Minor discrepancies between the daily bulletin and official attendance records were noted in at least two sittings.

During the 5th sitting, the daily bulletin reported 175 members present, whereas the official attendance showed 174. Similarly, for the 13th sitting, the bulletin indicated 170 members in attendance, while the official record listed 171.

An analysis of the attendance and the leaves applications read during the proceedings shows that 268 members — 86 percent of the current strength — missed at least one sitting during the current session. However, only 118 (44 percent of these 268) submitted an application seeking leave from the House for their absence.

Amongst these 118, 25 (21 percent of applicants) applied for leave in advance while 37 (31 percent of applicants) applied ex-post facto after returning from their leaves. The leave applications of the remaining 56 (47 percent) applicants were read on a day falling in the middle of their period of absence.