By Asim Shehzad
LAHORE: As the first year of the 16th National Assembly draws to a close on February 28, 2025, PILDAT has looked at how Federal Cabinet members have fared during the year in terms of their presence and performance in the legislature.
Executive Authority of the Federation is exercised by the Federal Government comprising Prime Minister and Federal Cabinet. Federal Ministers are appointed mainly from the membership of the National Assembly while one fourth of the strength of Federal Ministers can be from the Senate. Our Constitution defines that the cabinet, in turn, is collectively responsible to the National Assembly and the Senate thus laying down the terms of their accountability to the Parliament.
The Federal Cabinet comprises 18 Federal Ministers and 2 Ministers of State. The cabinet notably includes only one woman as Minister of State and lacks any non-Muslim minority representation.
To evaluate performance of the members of the Federal Cabinet in the Parliament, PILDAT has looked at both the houses of the Parliament: 16th National Assembly that became functional on February 29, 2024 and the Senate of Pakistan which was reconvened after the election of half of its membership on April 09, 2024.
To assess how the Federal Cabinet has performed in the legislature where it democratically originates from, where it draws democratic legitimacy and to which it is Constitutionally accountable to, PILDAT has used twin parameters of the objective criteria: attendance of ministers in the Parliament and the amount of time they spoke during parliamentary sessions.
In PILDAT analysis, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has emerged as the most influential and effective member of the Federal Cabinet in terms of his performance in the Parliament during 2024-2025.
Holding three key portfolios – Law and Justice, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs – Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has been at the helm of the government’s legislative agenda including constitutional amendments and key legislation. Despite the diversity of opinion about the desirability and quality of various laws, Senator Azam Tarar can be credited by the Government with the passage of most of the 38 government bills in the National Assembly during the first year, which is believed to be the record number of bills passed by any past Assembly during its first year. His presence in both houses of the Parliament – National Assembly and the Senate – was found to be the highest by significant margins as he attended 89 (57%) out of a combined total of 157 sittings in the two houses and spoke for more than 17 hours in the two houses during the first year of the Parliament.
Following him, albeit at a distance, is Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA, who holds the portfolios of Defence, Defence Production and Aviation. He attended 69 (44%) sittings of the Parliament and spoke for more than 5.5 hours and secured second position in both attendance and speaking time in the Parliament.
Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, MNA, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, ranks third in attendance with 67 (43%) sittings attended. However, he spoke for only 31 minutes during the first parliamentary year, placing him at 17th position under this parameter.
Rana Tanveer Hussain, MNA, Federal Minister for Industries, Production National Food Security and Research, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, MNA, Federal Minister of Housing and Works, and Ali Pervaiz, MNA, Minister of State for Finance, Revenue and Power Division, are tied for fourth position in attendance rankings, with 66 (42%) sittings attended. They each spoke for 1 hour 44 minutes, 1 hour 1 minute and 1 hour 31 minutes respectively.
In terms of speaking time, Mr. Attaullah Tarar, MNA, Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture, has ranked third. He spoke for almost 4.5 hours but attended 63 (40%) sittings, coming in at fifth in attendance rankings.
Following him in speaking time rankings is Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb who spoke for nearly 4 hours but attended only 35 (22%) sittings. Despite this, Finance Minister must be credited with accomplishing the government’s core agenda of economic stabilization through IMF negotiations and sound management.
In fifth spot for speaking time stands Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, who spoke for 2 hours and 45 minutes, despite attending only 32 (20%) sittings. One must give allowance for his low attendance because as Foreign Minister, he is required to extensively travel outside the country.
Senator Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, Federal Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control, came in second last on both indicators: attending only 10 (6%) sittings and speaking for only 12 minutes during the entire year. Senator Naqvi’s parliamentary record is a testament to the reduced value of the Parliament. Arguably one of the most powerful ministers, he has been able to execute the government’s law-and-order agenda without any visibility or accountability in the Parliament. This underscores the diminished role of democratic institutions in key decision-making despite clear Constitutional decree.
Senator Ahad Cheema, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Establishment, has come at the bottom of both rankings, attending only 9 sittings and speaking for only 1 minute in Parliament.
Full details of ministerial performance in the Parliament are available in Table 1. Note that this data is up to date as of the National Assembly session that ended on February 18, 2025 and the Senate session that was prorogued on February 21, 2025.
