ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday hurriedly passed six bills within just eight to ten minutes, even as an opposition member repeatedly pointed out that the House lacked the required quorum, raising concerns over the speed and transparency of the legislative process.
The House passed six bills including “The Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2025”, “The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026”, “The Pakistan Names and Emblems (Prevention of Unauthorised Use) (Amendment) Bill, 2026”, “The National Archives (Amendment) Bill, 2026” “The Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026” and “The Islamabad Capital Territory Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2025.”
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq proceeded with the legislative business during the House session despite repeated objections from opposition member Iqbal Afridi, who kept raising concerns over the lack of quorum.
The Speaker said that the quorum had already been pointed out and counted once and therefore refused to allow Iqbal Afridi to raise the issue again on the microphone. The members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Fazl (JUI-F) also continued to oppose the legislative process.
At the time, only 66 members were said to be present in the House, while at least 86 lawmakers were required to meet the quorum. In protest, opposition member Iqbal Afridi staged a walkout from the Assembly.
In addition, the Assembly adopted a motion of thanks to the President of Pakistan for his address to the joint sitting of Parliament delivered on March 10, 2025.
The motion, moved by Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, expressed the House’s deep gratitude to the President for outlining the government’s vision, priorities, and legislative agenda. “This House expresses its deep gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to both Houses assembled on 10th March 2025,” the motion read.
Earlier, during the question hour in the House, Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Daniyal Chaudhry said that there is no formal Information Literacy Programme currently running under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. However, he added that different attached departments are carrying out similar awareness efforts through various platforms.
He said the ministry’s institutions were carrying out programmes through different forums aimed at enhancing public awareness and responsible media engagement, though not under a specific programme name.
He said Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) is running training courses and awareness programmes through various forums. He said that the PTV Drama and Film Academy is also conducting capacity-building initiatives for media professionals, focusing on digital literacy, artificial intelligence (AI), ethical journalism, credible news production and public awareness content.
The Parliamentary Secretary added that the Press Information Department (PID) is also conducting different outreach and awareness programmes.
He further informed the House that the Information Service Academy (ISA) is conducting specialised training programmes, mid-career courses, AI workshops, seminars and academic outreach activities during 2024-25, integrating information and media literacy, ethics and digital communication skills into its structured curricula.
Reports of the standing committees on various bills were also present in the house.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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