In an annual analysis of the first year performance of the 16^th National Assembly, PILDAT has noted that the Assembly was convened for fewer working days and fewer working hours compared to the previous Assembly though it underwent a surge in crucial legislative activity much of which was passed without required scrutiny and deliberation by the MNAs.

After a controversial general election, the 16^th National Assembly was convened for its inaugural session on February 29, 2024 with its first parliamentary year ending on February 28, 2025.

Compared to its predecessor, the 16th National Assembly was convened for fewer sittings (93) and worked for significantly fewer hours (212) than the 15th National Assembly’s first-year record of 96 sittings and 297 hours. It should be mentioned that the cost of a working hour in the first year of the 16^th National Assembly comes to about PKR 60.08 million per hour while the average budget per sitting of the 16^th National Assembly in its first year stood at PKR 136.96 million.

However, legislative output of the 16th National Assembly was significantly higher, with 47 bills passed in its first year—a staggering 370% increase compared to the 10 bills passed during the first year of the 15th National Assembly. This heightened legislative activity has included critical laws and constitutional amendments most of which were rushed through without adequate time and scrutiny by the Assembly. Among these was the 26th Constitutional Amendment introducing fundamental changes to the equation between the Parliament and the Judiciary and process of appointing the Chief Justice of Pakistan. In addition, several laws including 9 crucially-important ones, were hurried for passage without review by MNAs and without being referred to relevant Standing Committees.

The first year of the 16th National Assembly thus saw the passage of significant legislation affecting judicial independence, tenures of services chiefs, electoral system, lenience to madressahs and curbing physical and digital civic freedoms. While the merits of these measures are hotly contested and debated, their hurried passage has raised further critical concerns about the legislature’s ability and commitment to objective, citizen-centric and well-considered decisions.

The attendance of MNAs has also declined to an average of 66% in first year of the 16^th National Assembly down from 73% in the first year of the 15th National Assembly. PILDAT has been advocating that the system of recording MNAs attendance may need to be improved as the system makes no distinction between a member who attended the sittings for 5 minutes and the other who was present for 5 hours. Another issue with the system of attendance is reflected in the pointing out of quorum and number of sittings that are adjourned due to lack of quorum even though the number of MNAs recorded as present in those sittings far exceeds the required quorum.

The 16th National Assembly has shown a relatively weaker performance in terms of agenda items planned and disposed of, with 49.18% of the scheduled agenda items left over during its first year. The rate of agenda items left over indicates a casual approach and practice where significant portion of planned business remains incomplete in the National Assembly.

During the first year of the 16th National Assembly, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif attended only 17 sittings out of the total 93 sittings or joined only 18% of the total sittings. Poor as it is, this thin attendance record of PM is sadly consistent with the attendance of former PM Imran Khan who had attended only 18 out of 96 or 19% sittings in first year of 15^th National Assembly. His predecessor PM Nawaz Sharif had only attended 7 of the 103 or 7% sittings of the 14^th National Assembly’s first year.

In comparison, Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan, MNA attended 62 or 67% sittings in the year, up from 53 or 55% attendance of Leader of the Opposition Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in first year of previous Assembly.

Omar Ayub Khan was also the most vocal MNA with a recorded talk time of 13 hours and 28 minutes during 1^st year of 16^th National Assembly.

The 16^th National Assembly also bypassed and violated its rule on formation of Standing Committees. Rule 200 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly dictates that members of departmental standing committees must be elected by the Assembly within thirty (30) days after the election of the Leader of the House, which made April 3, 2024 as the deadline of doing so. However, committees were not made functional until May 17, 2024 and there was further delay in electing chairpersons of committees. In fact, the crucially important Public Accounts Committee remained without a chairperson until January 2025.

The first year of the 16th National Assembly witnessed serious challenges to democratic norms and parliamentary sanctity. The use of force within the Parliament building to arrest lawmakers on September 10, 2024 and the censorship of opposition voices on state media are serious concerns.

With political polarization at an all-time high, the 16th National Assembly has struggled to build consensus on national priorities. Opposition parties have frequently clashed with the government over what they perceive as executive overreach. As the Assembly enters its second year, concerns persist about its ability to effectively address the pressing challenges to democratic governance in Pakistan.