ISLAMABAD - Following in the footsteps of his mentor and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has missed 75 percent of National Assembly proceedings after succeeding Sharif as the prime minister.
Abbasi, however, has been quite regular in holding official meetings, especially the cabinet meeting, which was mostly ignored during the Sharif's four years stint as the prime minister.
The handpicked premier sailed through ‘the election of the prime minister’ by securing 221 votes in the National Assembly in the month of August.
Abbasi, after assuming charge as Leader of the House, has graced the House only for seven days (25 percent) in a total 29 days.
The prime minister has missed 22 sittings out of total 29 sittings of Lower House of Parliament (National Assembly) from August to October (44th National Assembly session to 47th session), a breakup compiled by independent entity, Fafen, show.
The attendance of lawmakers mainly from treasury benches, during this time period, also remained very thin and many times led to the suspension of the House due to the lack of quorum.
It was also observed the attendance in the House from government benches was almost full whenever Abbasi graced the House.
Unlike former PM Sharif, the newly elected premier has so far not faced criticism from opposition benches on the issue of non-attendance.
Sharif was much criticised by opposition parties for continuously showing disinterest in the parliamentary business.
Abbasi, after becoming Leader of the House, has attended the proceedings at the begging but later, he even missed the whole session of the National Assembly.
In the last (47th National Assembly session), the prime minister remained present in the House for only two times out of the total eight days session.
The prime minister had missed the whole 46th session (total nine days) of the National Assembly. During this session, the government side has also faced embarrassment due to the lack of quorum in the House, which led to the suspension or adjournment of the House. Abbasi, however, remained present on both the two days of the National Assembly in the 45th session.
The breakup of the same period (from 44th to 47th sittings) further revealed that the PTI chief Imran Khan, the main critique of the incumbent government, did not show for one-day out of the total 29 days.
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah, in the same period, attended House for 21 days. He also spent most of the time in the House during the proceedings.
The MQM-P, the third opposition party, considered as the most regular political party, also showed disinterest in this regard.
Farooq Sattar as MQM-p Parliamentary Leader and head of the party only attended the House for three days in a total of 29 days.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman remained absent most of the time from the House for his personal reasons as he could attend the proceedings of the House for three days in this same period.
Jamaat-e-Islami Parliamentary Leader Sahibzada Tariq Ullah, from 44th to 47th NA sessions, scored the first position as he missed only five proceedings.