NA session adjourned due to lack of quorum

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly session was adjourned without any proceedings on Wednesday after the government failed to meet the quorum, following an objection raised by a PTI member.

The session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah, was halted shortly after commencement when PTI MNA Iqbal Afridi pointed out the lack of quorum.

A 15-minute break was announced to allow the government to gather the required number of members but the attendance remained insufficient even after the break. The session was then adjourned until 11am Friday (today).

During the session, only 76 members of the ruling coalition were present in the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was seen making efforts to bring in more members but several PPP lawmakers left the chamber during the process. PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah allegedly signaled his colleagues to exit the House, undermining the quorum.

Chaudhry later accused the PPP of deliberately sabotaging the quorum despite the government's efforts to meet the required numbers. PPP lawmaker Ramesh Lal was seen taunting the minister over his struggle to maintain attendance in the House.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in a written response during the session, informed the assembly that the passports of 50,000 individuals have been blacklisted on the request of FIA Balochistan for attempting to illegally enter Iran and European countries.

The blacklisted individuals were allegedly involved in illegal border crossings, passport forgery, fraud and human smuggling. The affected individuals can appeal for the removal of their names from the blacklist by approaching the Directorate General of Passports through the standard procedure.

On cybercrime, the Ministry of Interior stated that in 2024, the FIA's Cyber Crime Wing registered 13,722 inquiries related to online fraud. A total of 832 cases were registered, leading to the arrest of 1,212 individuals.