99 MNAs record perfect attendance

A report by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on the National Assembly's budget session showed that 99 lawmakers, accounting for 30% of the House, maintained "perfect attendance" across all 15 sittings, while six members, or 2%, did not attend a single sitting.

The report noted that the 15 sittings, held between June 10 and 24, were conducted with a 333-member House after three general seats fell vacant. It added that 234 lawmakers, representing 70% of the lower house, missed one or more sittings.

The highest attendance was recorded at the 13th sitting, where 300 MNAs, representing 75% of the House, attended proceedings that included voting on demands for grants and deliberations on the standing committee's FY27 budget report.

The report showed that 191 MNAs participated in between eight and 14 sittings, whereas 37 attended no more than seven sittings during the session.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was present at six of the 15 sittings, while Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai attended 12, the report said.

Among cabinet members elected to the National Assembly, six federal ministers and three ministers of state attended all sittings. Communications Minister Aleem Khan recorded the lowest attendance, participating in eight sittings.

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 recorded full attendance throughout the session.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended four sittings of the session, while JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was present at only two.

Attendance records showed that 48 of the PML-N's 132 MNAs did not miss a single sitting, while 15 of the PPP's 74 lawmakers were present throughout the session.

The report showed that 27 of the 75 independent MNAs, four of whom sit on the treasury benches, attended every sitting of the session.

Punjab recorded the highest number of lawmakers with "perfect attendance", with 53 MNAs attending all sittings, followed by 25 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The report also noted that six Punjab legislators did not attend a single sitting.

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.