232 MNAs take part in seven-day budget debate as NA speaker details party-wise participation and speaking time

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has stated that the budget debate in the National Assembly has been completed. According to him

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has stated that the budget debate in the National Assembly has been completed. According to him, the discussion on the federal budget continued for seven days, during which a total of 232 members of the National Assembly participated in the proceedings.

The session of the National Assembly was held under the chairmanship of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. Addressing the House, he provided a detailed overview of the participation and time distribution during the budget debate. He noted that both government and opposition members actively took part in the discussion, contributing to one of the key parliamentary processes of the year.

According to the Speaker, 151 members from the government side and 81 members from the opposition side took part in the budget debate. In total, members of the National Assembly spent 53 hours and 31 minutes discussing the budget on the floor of the House. Out of this total time, government members contributed 34 hours and 33 minutes, while opposition members collectively spoke for 18 hours and 58 minutes.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq further provided a breakdown of participation based on political parties. He informed the House that 77 members from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) participated in the budget discussion. From the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), 49 members took part in the debate. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was represented by 20 members who contributed to the proceedings. Additionally, 67 members from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) participated in the discussion. The Sunni Ittehad Council was represented by 1 member, while 10 members from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) also took part in the budget debate.

This distribution highlights the level of engagement from different political parties during the budget session. The Speaker emphasized that the parliamentary process allowed all sides to present their viewpoints on the national budget, which is one of the most important financial and policy documents of the government.

He also mentioned an important procedural point regarding the allocation of speaking time. According to him, the opposition side was given additional time beyond the originally scheduled allocation. Specifically, the opposition was granted 8 hours and 18 minutes more than the allotted time for their speeches. This extension was provided to ensure that opposition members could fully express their concerns, suggestions, and criticisms regarding the budget proposals.

The Speaker’s remarks underline the effort to maintain balance and fairness in parliamentary proceedings while ensuring maximum participation from both government and opposition benches. The extended duration of debate also reflects the importance of the budget discussion in shaping national fiscal priorities and policy direction.

Overall, the session demonstrated active engagement from a large number of elected representatives, with contributions spanning multiple political parties. The detailed time breakdown and participation figures presented by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq offer insight into how parliamentary time was utilized during the seven-day budget debate, showing both the scale of participation and the structured nature of the legislative process.