National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken notice of lawmakers’ poor attendance in the Lower House after some ministers raised the issue of members’ non-attendance with him.

“The prime minister has taken notice of the absenteeism,” said Sadiq while talking to the media outside the NA, adding that the members and the premier were now overseeing compliance.

The speaker’s remarks came after today’s NA session was marked by a thin presence of lawmakers, prompting media inquiries about empty seats and disregard for quorum during parliamentary proceedings.

He also said that maintaining the quorum was not the responsibility of the speaker but of the government and opposition, and expressed hope that attendance would improve at the next session, expected to be held on Thursday or Friday.

Sadiq told the media that he had received a message from the government indicating that there was a realisation about the issue and that improvements would be made in future.

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He urged both the treasury and opposition members to remain present during sessions, saying that leaving the seats vacant during the two to four hours allocated for debate, discussions, question hour and legislation meant that important parliamentary business remained untapped.

“Everyone suffers. It is not just the government which is unable to process the agenda of the day; the opposition too cannot go through with their agenda. It is my request [to them] that both the government and the opposition should not leave the seats vacant when the NA is in session. Use this forum as much as you can,” he said.

When asked about Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s stated intention to give the government a tough time over legislation, Sadiq said he viewed the development positively.

He described Fazl’s call for a “proactive approach towards legislation making” as a good initiative and expressed hope that the government would respond positively.

“It will help hold the government accountable and help it undergo reforms,” the speaker said.

On resignations submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members from standing committees, Sadiq said he had not approved any of them, hoping that the government would continue its reform process and act on proposals put forward by the committees.

“The committees are running on requisition,” he said, stressing that their functioning would improve if opposition members attended their meetings.

On the possibility of the united opposition filing a no-confidence motion against him or the prime minister, Sadiq said it was the opposition’s democratic and political right.

“If they want to exercise this right, we will facilitate them. We will see when the time comes,” he said.

The speaker also said efforts had repeatedly been made to bridge the political divide with the opposition. He said he, PM Shehbaz, law minister and Rana Sanaullah had offered dialogue on several occasions.

Sadiq said he was now tired of repeating the offer, but would nevertheless ask the government to make another attempt to bring the opposition to the negotiating table.

“They would come if they really want to,” he concluded.