Imran Khan spotted in ‘accursed’ National Assembly

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PakistanToday
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan arrived at Parliament House on Thursday to attend what appears to be his 21st National Assembly (NA) session.

Imran Khan, when asked by reporters as to when he last attended the NA session, replied, “I do not remember,” adding that, “If the assembly would have been running properly, I would have attended sessions daily.”

According to a report released by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on “Attendance and Quorum in National Assembly of Pakistan (June 2013-March 2018)”, the PTI chief attended only 20 sittings of the House which is recorded as the lowest attendance among the parliamentary leaders in NA, which held 54 sessions comprising 468 sittings during its parliamentary years 2013-2018.

On the other hand, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif attended the House for 44 times, which is double compared to Imran Khan.  According to FAFEN, from June 1, 2013, to March 16, 2018, the attendance of Imran Khan stood at five per cent as he attended only 23 out of 493 total settings, missing 470 sessions.

As was expected, some interesting reactions were seen on Twitter regarding the PTI leader’s surprising arrival in the NA.

Journalist Nusrat Javeed tweeted, “National Assembly is finally blessed with Imran Khan’s presence. Hats off to FATA!”

 

Twitter user Haider Abbasi said, “Very kind of Imran Khan to grace the National Assembly with his presence. Mashallah showing up for the job he was elected to do for the second time in 5 years. Leading by example!”

 

Another user Omar R Quraishi tweeted, “In 5 years, total number of National Assembly sessions: 54
Total number of National Assembly sittings: 468
Total National Assembly sittings Imran Khan attended: 20
Percentage of National Assembly sittings Imran Khan attended: 2.7

Democracy Ko Mustehkam Kartay Huaye…”

 

 

Another user tweeted, “Imran Khan attended National Assembly proceedings after a long time, NA house witnessing hullabaloo, exchange of hot words and both PML-N and PTI are seemingly in an aggressive mood”.

 

Imran Khan missed the last budget session of 2017-18, along with skipping the previous budget sessions for 2016-17, 2015-16 and 2014-15 as well. Apart from this, he has also skipped many other crucial sessions of the parliament. His last noted speech on the floor of the house was made in May 2016, when he clarified his position on the Niazi Services Limited, his offshore firm, revealed in the Panama Papers.

In January 2018, Imran Khan came under fire for “cursing” the parliament and calling it “rigged”.

The agenda of Thursday’s NA session is to present an amendment bill clearing the way for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a day after the parliamentary committee gave it a go-ahead.

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