ISLAMABAD - Around 50 percent lawmakers did not bother to raise a single question during a mandatory part of National Assembly proceedings, question hour, on the completion of the 4th parliamentary year of the incumbent government.
Around 159 MNAs, 50 percent of the lower house of the parliament, failed to participate in this first part of proceedings.
The “question-hour” is the first hour of a sitting session of the National Assembly devoted to the questions that MNAs raise about any aspect of administrative activity.
The minister concerned is obliged to answer the questions either orally or in writing, depending on the type of the question raised, according to the rules and procedure of the National Assembly.
The federal government, during these four parliamentary years, faced much criticism from the opposition parties over the absence of ministers or state ministers from the house.
Interestingly, these ministers remained major critics of the previous PPP government over the absence of the ministers during this particular hour.
According to the breakup shared by FAFEN, the lacklustre attitude of these parliamentarians, including 100 MNAs from Punjab, 30 from Sindh and 15 from Khyber Pakhtukhwa, showed no interest in participating in the question hour.
Of the 159 MNAs who did not prove their presence by raising any question, 140 are elected members from the constituencies of different provinces, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and KP, says the data exclusively available to The Nation.
Among the 159 legislators, the ruling PML-N with 110 stood first by not participating in the question-hour.
The major opposition party, PPP, which is normally supposed to give a tough time to the government by asking questions, remained second as 17 of its lawmakers did not bother to point out any administrative irregularity.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement secured third position as five members from each of the two parties remained indifferent in this respect.
The data shows that around 100 from Punjab, nearly 10 from Balochistan, 15 from KP and 30 from Sindh did not participate in the question-hour.
Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah has been criticising the government for not properly responding to the questions of the members.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, over the repeated criticism from the opposition parties, has also been strictly asking treasury benches to take this hour seriously.
The MNAs who did not put written questions during the question-hour from 2013 to October 2016 include Khawaja Saad Rafique, Waheed Alam Khan, Shazia Mubashir, Aqibullah, Sohail Shoukat Butt, Rana Afzaal Hussain, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Bilal Ahmed Virk, Salman Hanif, Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Rana Muhammad Ishaq Khan, Rana Muhammad Hayat, Nadeem Abbas, Muhammad Ashiq Hussain, Muhammad Khan Sherani, Mir Dostain Khan Domki, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Jam Kamal Khan, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan, Begum Majeeda Wyne, Rida Khan, Arifa Khalid Parvez, Shaheen Shafiq, Iffat Liaqat, Romina Khurshid Alam, Asma Mamdot, Maryam Aurangzeb, Tahmina Daultana, Reeta Ishwar, Bhawan Das, Bilal Rehman, Gulzar Khan, Bismillah Khan, Nasir Khan, Dr Tariq Fazal, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Abid Sher Ali, Muhammad Akram Ansari, Qaisar Ahmad Sheikh, Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Amir Haider Khan, Sahibzada Muhammad Nazir Sultan, Muhammad Junaid Anwaar, Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, Syed Javed Ali Shah, Abdur Rehman Khan Kanju, Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, Muhammad Khan Daha, Iftikhar Nazir, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Munir, Sardar Mansab Ali Dogar, Rana Zahid Hussain Khan, Alam Dad Laleka, Tahir Bashir Cheema, Muhammad Ijazul Haq, Makhdoom Syed Mustafa Mehmood, Mian Imtiaz Ahmed, Muhammad Arshad Khan Laghari, Mir Shabbir Ali Bijarani, Muhammad Safdar, Nawab Ali Wassan, Syed Qazim Ali Shah, Amir Ali Shah Jamote, Pir Noor Muhammad Shah Jeelani, Pir Bux Junejo, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor, Abdul Rashid Godil and others.