Pakistan’s female Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) have demonstrated a remarkable level of legislative engagement, submitting nearly half of all individual member business during the second parliamentary year, despite constituting just over a fifth of the chamber’s total strength, a new report has revealed.
A report by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) indicates today that women parliamentarians tabled approximately 48 per cent of the regular plenary agenda between 1 March 2025 and 28 February 2026. This contribution comes from a group holding only 21.7 per cent of the seats in the lower house of parliament.
The disparity highlights that female MNAs are contributing to parliamentary proceedings at more than double the rate of their proportional representation. FAFEN notes that the volume of agenda submitted is a key indicator of a legislator”s active involvement with parliamentary processes.
This level of activity is particularly noteworthy given the structural constraints faced by women in Pakistan’s political landscape, which include limited opportunities for floor time, party-level gatekeeping, and significant social and cultural pressures.
The 48 per cent figure represents a decrease from the 55 per cent recorded in the preceding parliamentary year (2024-2025). However, the report clarifies this is not due to a reduction in activity.
The previous year”s higher percentage was a result of 19 reserved seats for women remaining vacant due to litigation, which skewed the calculation by reducing the total number of female members. The current figure is therefore considered a more accurate and stable baseline for assessing the legislative contributions of female parliamentarians.
The findings are based on FAFEN’s monitoring of all 84 sittings of the National Assembly during the reporting period, which categorised every agenda item sponsored by individual members. Business initiated by the government was tracked separately and not included in this calculation.