Islamabad: The National Assembly committees have fallen short in adhering to the mandated schedule for updating the House on their performance, as required by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business 2007. This lapse was highlighted in a review by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) of the National Assembly’s Orders of the Day for the second parliamentary year.

According to FAFEN, Rule 234-A necessitates that each committee submits a biannual performance report to the National Assembly. The standing committees, constituted in May 2024 and operational by the end of June 2024, should have submitted three reports each by now for the periods spanning from July to December 2024, January to June 2025, and July to December 2025. The National Assembly hosts 34 ministerial standing committees, five non-ministerial committees, and three special committees.

FAFEN's review indicates a lack of uniformity in compliance with these reporting requirements. Fourteen committees, including eight ministerial, four non-ministerial, and two special committees, have not presented any reports over the past eighteen months. Nineteen committees have submitted one report each, while nine ministerial committees have provided two reports each. No committee has met the requirement of submitting all three reports.

Despite the irregular submission of biannual performance reports, this does not necessarily reflect committee inactivity. The National Assembly website notes that committees have submitted 126 reports on various issues referred to them by the House. Nonetheless, the rules specifically call for separate biannual reports to delineate the committees' overall functioning and activities, highlighting a non-compliance issue with the procedural requirement to periodically report on committee performance to the plenary.