The report highlights that 33 legislators skipped all sessions, while 267 members (80% of the House) missed at least one session.
Only 66 members of the 333-member National Assembly attended all nine sessions of the 27th parliamentary session held between May 11 and 22, 2026, while the prime minister did not attend any session, according to a report by the Free and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN).
The report highlighted that 33 lawmakers did not attend any sessions during the session, while 267 members (about 80 percent of the House) missed at least one session.
Attendance fluctuated throughout the session: the first session recorded the highest participation, at 75 percent (249 members present), while the fifth session recorded the lowest participation, at 49 percent (164 members).
Among senior parliamentary officials, the opposition leader attended all nine sessions. On the contrary, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif remained absent throughout the session.
Women surpass
The report noted that female lawmakers consistently recorded higher attendance rates than their male counterparts throughout the session. Among legislators who attended all sessions, 30 were women elected to reserved seats, 20 were men elected to general seats and six were women elected to general seats.
By contrast, among members who did not attend any sittings, 43 were men elected to general seats, six were women to reserved seats, and two were members of minority seats.
Women also maintained a higher attendance rate in both the highest and lowest attendance sessions. During the first session, 79 percent of female legislators were present, compared to 73 percent of men. During the fifth session, attendance was 55 percent for women and 48 percent for men.
wise party
The National Assembly is made up of 13 parliamentary parties and 79 independents, with government and opposition benches divided between eight parties plus four independents on the government side, and five parties with 75 independents in the opposition.
Among the major parties, the 132 parliamentary members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) included 29 legislators who attended all sessions and 13 who remained absent in all of them. Another 51 attended five to eight sessions and 39 attended between one and four sessions.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), with 74 members, recorded eight legislators with perfect attendance and eight who did not attend any session. Another 39 attended five to eight sessions and 19 attended one to four sessions.
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Among the 79 independents, 19 attended all sessions, 43 attended five to eight sessions, 10 attended one to four sessions, and seven did not attend any sessions.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) 22 members: three with perfect attendance, seven who attended five to eight sessions, 11 who attended one to four sessions and one member who remained absent throughout.
Similarly, the 10 members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-P) included three members with full attendance, four who attended five to eight sessions, two who attended one to four sessions and one who did not attend any session.
Of the 16 legislators belonging to smaller parties grouped in the “Other” category, four attended all sessions, two attended between five and eight sessions, seven attended between one and four sessions, and three remained absent.
federal ministers
A total of 26 federal ministers were scheduled to respond during question time. However, only 12 attended the sessions in which issues relating to their ministries were listed. For the remaining 14 ministries, parliamentary secretaries represented their respective ministries when issues were addressed.
Eight ministers were also required to make statements in call-out notices, but only three were present when notices relating to their ministries came to the House.
Among the parliamentary party leaders, Mahmood Khan Achakzai of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and Hameed Hussain of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen attended all nine sessions.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif attended seven sessions, Balochistan Awami Party chief Khalid Hussain Magsi attended six, while PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari did not attend any session.
Leaves
FAFEN found that of the 267 members who missed at least one session, only 82 submitted formal requests for leave, while 185 remained absent without any official request.
Of those who applied for leave, only 33 percent submitted their applications early, 35 percent had their applications read during the leave period, and 32 percent submitted applications after the absence had already occurred.
The report further notes that 24 percent of those who requested leave remained absent for a longer period than originally requested.
