By: Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, MNA, attended only one sitting held on January 13 out of the 9 sittings of the National Assembly held during the 40th session. The details were revealed by PILDAT in its regular update on the sessions of the National Assembly. Leader of the Opposition, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, MNA, attended only 4 sittings held on January 10, January 11, January 12 and January 13. On average, 224 or 65.50% MNAs marked their attendance during the 40th session.
According to PILDAT, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, MNA (NA-200 Larkana-I, Sindh, PPPP) was the most vocal MNA during the 40th session with a recorded talk time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 35 seconds. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, MNA (NA-132 Lahore-X, Punjab, PML-N) spoke for 1 hour 13 minutes and 15 seconds during the session, followed by Mr. Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, MNA (NA-78 Narowal-II, Punjab, PML-N) who spoke for 1 hour 4 minutes and 5 seconds. Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, MNA (NA-248 Karachi West-I, Sindh, PPPP) spoke for 34 minutes and Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA (NA-73 Sialkot-II, Punjab, PML-N) spoke for 31.25 minutes.
16 bills were passed by the National Assembly in a single sitting held on January 13 including the highly contentious State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which the opposition termed as a surrender to IMF with far greater implications for Pakistan than the surrender in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. The treasury benches also managed to pass the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2022 amidst protest from the opposition which protested that the bill would further fuel already high inflation in Pakistan. The opposition MNAs have continued to demand that the Speaker should re-do voting tally though the Speaker has continued to refuse to hold vote count by standing in seats.
The 15th National Assembly met for 23 hours and 38 minutes in the 40th Session with an average time of 2 hours and 37 minutes per sitting. All 9 sittings (January 10, January 11, January 12, January 13, January 14, January 17, January 18, January 19 and January 20) started late on an average of 38 minutes per sitting.