- Prime Minister Shehbaz attended just 18% of NA sessions.
- 47 bills passed, 370% rise first year of the 15th National Assembly.
- Cost per working hour in NA reached Rs60.08 million.
ISLAMABAD: The 16th National Assembly convened for fewer working days and recorded fewer working hours in its first year compared to its predecessor, The News reported, citing an analysis by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
Despite this decline, the report noted a surge in legislative activity, with many key bills passed without thorough scrutiny and deliberation by Members of the National Assembly (MNAs).
The 16th National Assembly was convened for its inaugural session on February 29, 2024, with its first parliamentary year ending on February 28, 2025.
Compared to its predecessor, according to Pildat analysis of the first-year performance of the 16th National Assembly, the 16th National Assembly was convened for fewer sittings (93) and worked for significantly fewer hours (212) than the 15th National Assembly’s first-year record of 96 sittings and 297 hours.
It should be mentioned that the cost of a working hour in the first year of the 16th National Assembly comes to about Rs60.08 million per hour while the average budget per sitting of the 16th National Assembly in its first year stood at Rs136.96 million.
However, the legislative output of the 16th National Assembly was significantly higher, with 47 bills passed in its first year — a staggering 370% increase compared to the 10 bills passed during the first year of the 15th National Assembly.
This heightened legislative activity includes critical laws and the 26th constitutional amendment, most of which were rushed through without adequate time and scrutiny by the Assembly. In addition, several laws including 9 crucially important ones, were hurried for passage without review by MNAs and without being referred to relevant Standing Committees.
The attendance of MNAs has also declined to an average of 66% in the first year of the 16th National Assembly down from 73% in the first year of the 15th National Assembly. It must be noted that the cost per MNA to the taxpayers stood at Rs37.9 million during the 16th National Assembly’s first year.
The 16th National Assembly has shown a relatively weaker performance in terms of agenda items planned and disposed of, with 49.18% of the scheduled agenda items left over during its first year, indicating a significant portion of planned business remains incomplete in the National Assembly.
During the first year of the 16th National Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended only 17 sittings out of the total 93 sittings or joined only 18% of the total sittings.
Poor as it is, this thin attendance record of PM is sadly consistent with the attendance of former PM Imran Khan who had attended only 18 out of 96 or 19% of sittings in the first year of the 15th National Assembly. His predecessor, Nawaz Sharif had only attended 7 of the 103 or 7% sittings of the 14th National Assembly’s first year.
In comparison, the leader of the opposition Omar Ayub Khan, MNA, attended 62 or 67% of sittings in the year, up from 53 or 55% attendance of the leader of the opposition Shehbaz Sharif in the first year of the previous assembly.
Omar was the most vocal MNA with a recorded talk time of 13 hours and 28 minutes. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA, Federal Minister for Defence, Defence Production and Aviation, spoke for 5 hours and 30 minutes. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, MNA, spoke for 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Attaullah Tarar, Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture, spoke for 4 hours and 11 minutes. Maulana Fazlur Rahman, MNA, spoke for 3 hours and 41 minutes. No woman is among the top five most vocal MNAs in the first parliamentary year.
The 16th National Assembly of Pakistan has passed a total of 47 bills in its first year, marking a substantial leap compared to previous assemblies. This represents a significant 370% increase over the 10 bills passed by the 15th National Assembly in its first year.
In comparison, the 14th Assembly passed 11 bills, the 13th National Assembly passed 5 and the 12th Assembly passed only 2 laws during their respective first years.
This represents a 128.6% rise in the use of ordinances by the federal government. In contrast, 12 ordinances were laid in the 14th National Assembly in its first year, slightly below the current National Assembly’s count. The 16th Assembly’s reliance on ordinances reflects a growing trend toward executive-driven legislation.
The 16 National Assembly was convened for a total of 212 hours in its first year. This shows a decrease of 28.6% in working hours from the previous 15 National Assembly, which had met for 297 working hours in its first year.
The longest sitting of the first year of the 16th National Assembly lasted 11 hours and 19 minutes on June 24, 2024, while the shortest sitting was only 8 minutes on September 15, 2024.
It should be mentioned that the cost of a working hour in the first year of the 16 National Assembly comes to about Rs60.08 million per hour. During the first year of the 16 National Assembly, quorum was pointed out 30 times in 25 out of 93 sittings (27%).
9 sittings, or nearly 10% of the total sittings, were adjourned due to lack of quorum. On April 18, 2024, the parliament held its first joint sitting for the president’s inauguration address.
Only thirty minutes were spent in the session. Only 248 MNAs, or 74% of the total, were present out of 336. Meanwhile, 67 senators also attended the session.
