As many as 13 senators of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League including the party's Secretary General Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and SM Zafar were not present in the Senate on Thursday during the clause-by-clause reading of the Women Protection Bill (WPB).
Veteran senator Zafar was conspicuous by his absence during the final phase of the session, though he participated in the debate and proposed the law be referred to the Federal Shariat Court for advice after its passage.
The PML and its allies have 57 senators in the 100-member House, excluding Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro while the joint opposition has 42 senators. Of which, 21 belong to Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the rest to the Democratic Alliance.
Shahid Bugti of Jamhoori Watan Party and Sanaullah Baloch of Balochistan National Party (Mengal) were not present in the lower house of the parliament. Likewise, Enver Baig and Lateef Khosa of PPPP were also on a foreign tour.
About the ruling party senators' absence, it was not immediately known whether or not all or some deliberately stayed away from the House on this particular day.
It was learnt that Senator Mushahid is currently abroad and will be back next week while from the opposition camp, Awami National Party President Senator Asfandyar Wali was not present in the House.
Some 44 MNAs, belonging to the ruling PML had skipped the passage of the 'controversial bill' in the National Assembly. Prominent among them were Makhdoom Ahmed Alam Anwar, Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Farooq Leghari from southern Punjab.
Equally conspicuous were the two PML MNAs Gule Farkhanda and Bushra Sipra, who were present in the galleries on Wednesday and Thursday. They were seen counting the members and noting down something in a notebook.