ISLAMABAD: The PML-N-led government came under fire from within its own ruling coalition on Tuesday as the National Assembly session was adjourned without transacting any business for lack of quorum.

Moments after the national anthem, PTI-backed independent MNA Iqbal Afridi pointed out the quorum.

Bells were rung, but the House remained inquorate.

Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who was chairing the session, first adjourned proceedings for 15 minutes.

When the House reassembled after half an hour, the quorum was still not met, forcing the chair to adjourn the sitting until Wednesday.

PPP MNA slams PML-N absence; each sitting costs Rs24m to exchequer

All sittings of the session, which began on May 11, have seen suspension of proceedings for want of quorum. Presence of 84 members is required to complete the quorum in the House of 336. PML-N alone has 125 members and the collective strength of the ruling coalition which enjoys two-thirds majority in the House comes to around 236.

According to a National Assembly official, each sitting costs the national exchequer about Rs24 million. Many members come to the House to sign the attendance register to be able to get TA/DA and then leave for private engagements.

It was a private members’ day on Tuesday and at least 20 private member bills were on the agenda — none of which could be taken up.

The brief sitting drew criticism from the treasury benches themselves. PPP MNA Sharmila Farooqi posted on X that it was “deeply frustrating to sit in the National Assembly day after day only to see the quorum repeatedly pointed out by the opposition because the treasury benches remain empty”.

Sharing a photo of vacant treasury seats, she said it was not PPP’s res-ponsibility to complete the quorum when “nearly 95 per cent of PML-N MNAs are absent.”

Farooqi added that despite efforts to bring business to the House, sessions were collapsing for lack of attendance, wasting “millions of rupees of taxpayers’ money” daily. “As representatives travelling from across the country, including Karachi, we owe the nation a functioning Parliament, seriousness and accountability,” she wrote.

Leader of opposition in the National Assembly Mehmood Khan Achakzai had on Friday given the government a deadline until Monday to allow meetings with Imran Khan and his medical treatment at a hospital of his choice, threatening that the opposition would not allow the functioning of the House if their demands were not met by the deadline.

If there is no change in the government’s behaviour within these three days, then it would be responsible if any pandemonium occurred during proceedings and the House did not function, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026