ISLAMABAD: While the government successfully got the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2020-21 passed from the National Assembly (NA) on Monday after debates and amendments, at least 30 lawmakers from opposition parties and 17 members of the government and its allies did not attend the important session.
According to sources, at least 15 members of the assembly did not take part in voting despite signing the attendance sheets.
Those who did not attend the session included 12 members of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and five members of its allied parties. Moreover, 14 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), 11 members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), four members of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan (MMAP) and the entire Awami National Party (ANP) did not attend the session.
As per the attendance sheet of the lower house, at least 294 members had attended the session, however, only 279 members participated in the voting process.
PTI members who did not attend the session are Jawad Hussain, Tahir Saidiq, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Amir Sultan Cheema, Rahat Amanullah Bhatti, Sardar Talib Hussain Naki, Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik, Makhdoom Zada Syed Basit Ahmed Sultan, Jafar Laghari, Nasrullah Dreshak, Amir Hussain and Simi Bukhari.
Members of the government’s allied parties, including Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed of Awami Muslim League (AML), Ghosh Bakhsh Mehr of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Iqbal Muhammad Ali of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM), Akhtar Mengal of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) and Ali Nawaz Shah, an independent lawmaker, did not attend the session.
