ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday lost patience with the government’s habitual no-show, tearing into ministers and parliamentary secretaries for leaving the treasury benches conspicuously empty during question hour and forcing a 15-minute suspension of proceedings.
As the sitting resumed its proceedings with Sadiq in the chair, the front-row seats reserved for ministers were largely vacant while parliamentary secretaries were nowhere to be seen.
The spectacle visibly riled the usually composed NA Speaker, who delivered a blunt warning: parliament could not be expected to conduct meaningful scrutiny when the government itself could not be bothered to show up.
“If you are not going to take parliamentary business seriously, then there is no point in holding the question hour,” he remarked.
He was particularly incensed by the absence of officials from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination and ordered the ministry secretary and senior officials to be summoned.
“Even their staff did not deem it necessary to attend,” he said, warning that a repeat could trigger a privilege motion against the minister for parliamentary affairs and the concerned official.
When the House resumed business, lawmakers were confronted with stark figures during question hour laying bare the risks faced by Pakistanis working abroad.
In a written reply, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, headed by Chaudhry Salik Hussain, told the House that 799 Pakistani workers had died overseas during the past two years.
Saudi Arabia accounted for 575 deaths, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 104.
Other fatalities included 35 in Malaysia, 19 in Qatar, 16 in Oman, 13 in Libya and nine in Bahrain. The toll also included deaths in the UK, Turkey, Japan, Spain, Italy and Germany.
The ministry said Rs 1.3 billion had been distributed among 3,498 families of deceased or disabled overseas Pakistanis.
Another Rs 753.29 million was paid to 294 families against pending dues from host countries, it added.
The ministry further disclosed that 1,096 complaints of fraudulent overseas recruitment were pending in 2026.
Of these, 231 were new cases and 865 had been carried forward. Only 306 complaints had been disposed of, while 52 were referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
In a separate written reply, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the House that 21,951 Pakistanis had been deported from Gulf countries since March 1, 2026.
The House was also informed of a sharp volume of cybercrime complaints, but relatively few convictions.
A total of 161,828 complaints were registered in 2024, 157,465 in 2025 and 72,400 so far in 2026, while convictions stood at only 60, 39 and 10 respectively.
Recoveries amounted to Rs 652.6 million in 2024, Rs 554.5 million in 2025 and Rs 1.418 billion so far this year.
The House was further informed that 96 percent of development work in Sector I-12 had been completed, with possession of plots being handed over to allottees. The CDA had received 419 possession applications by July 23.
Officials, however, disclosed that nine housing schemes had violated approved layouts by converting land reserved for public amenities into residential or commercial use. Around 350 kanals earmarked for parks and public buildings had allegedly been converted, while an inquiry into Soan Garden remained pending.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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