Parliament of Pakistan

The Parliament of Pakistan, officially termed the Majlis-e-Shoora is

the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral
federal legislature that consists of the Senate and the National
Assembly, the upper and lower houses, respectively. According to the
constitution, the President of Pakistan is also a component of the
Parliament. The National Assembly is elected for a fiveyear term on
the basis of adult franchise and oneman onevote. The tenure of a
!ember of the National Assembly is for the duration of the house, or
sooner, in case the !ember dies or resigns. The tenure of the
National Assembly also comes to an end if dissolved on the advice of
the Prime !inister or by the president in his discretion under the
"onstitution. The Parliament meets at the Parliament #ouse building
in Islamabad, where debating chambers for both houses are present.
National Assembly
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the
parliament. The National Assembly has !" seats, "#" of
which are directly elected, $% are reser&ed for women and a
further '% for reli(ious minorities. The National Assembly of
Pakistan is the country)s so&erei(n le(islati&e body. *t
embodies the will of the people to let themsel&es be
(o&erned under the democratic, multi-party +ederal
Parliamentary System. The National Assembly makes laws
for the +ederation in respect of the powers enumerated in
the +ederal ,e(islati&e list. Throu(h its debates,
adjournment motion, -uestion hour and Standin(
.ommittees, the National Assembly keeps as check o&er the
/0ecuti&e and ensures that the (o&ernment functions within
the parameters set out in the .onstitution and does not
&iolate the fundamental ri(hts of citi1ens. 2nly the National
Assembly, throu(h its Public Accounts .ommittee,
scrutini1es public spendin( and e0ercises control of
e0penditure incurred by the (o&ernment. The Members of
the National Assembly are to be elected by direct and free
&ote in accordance with law.
Article 3% of the .onstitution pro&ides that the Parliament of
Pakistan shall consist of president and the two houses
known as the National Assembly and the Senate. The
National Assembly has an ed(e o&er the Senate by
le(islatin( e0clusi&ely on money matters. 4ith e0ception to
money bills, howe&er, both the houses work to(ether to carry
out the basic work of the Parliament, i.e. law makin(. The bill
relatin( to the +ederal ,e(islati&e ,ist can be ori(inated in
either house. *f the house passed the bill throu(h majority
&ote, it shall be transmitted to the other house. *f the other
house passes it without amendment, it shall be presented to
the president for assent. *f the bill, transmitted to the other
house, is not passed within ninety days or rejected, it shall
be considered in a joint sittin( to be summoned by the
president on the re-uest of the house in which the bill was
ori(inated. *f the bill is passed in the joint sittin(, with or
without amendments, by the &otes of majority of the
members of the two houses, it shall be presented to the
president for assent.
*f the bill is presented to the president for assent, he shall
assent to the bill in not later than ten days. *f it is not a
money bill, the president may return the bill to the Majlis-e-
Shoora with a messa(e re-uestin( that the bill be
reconsidered and that an amendment specified in the
messa(e be considered. The Majlis-e-Shoora shall
reconsider the bill in a joint sittin(. *f the bill is passed a(ain,
with or without amendment, by &ote of the majority of the
members present and &otin(, it shall be presented to the
president and the president shall (i&e his assent within ten
days5 failin( which such assent shall be deemed to ha&e
been (i&en. 6nder the .onstitution, the Parliament may also
le(islate for two or more Pro&inces by consent and re-uest
made by those Pro&inces. *f the +ederal 7o&ernment
proclaims State of /mer(ency in any pro&ince, the power to
le(islate about that pro&ince is &ested in the Parliament. 8ut
the bills passed by the Parliament durin( the State of
/mer(ency, shall cease to be in force after the e0piration of
si0 months from the date /mer(ency is lifted. Ne&ertheless,
the steps already taken under these Acts shall remain &alid.
*n e0ercises of its constitutional role, the Parliament also has
other &ery important duties to perform. The president, who is
at the ape0, is elected by members of both houses of the
Parliament and the Pro&incial Assemblies. The Prime
Minister, who heads the .abinet and is meant to aid and
ad&ise the president in his functions, belon(s to the National
Assembly. 9e enjoys the confidence of the majority of the
members of the National Assembly. Members of the .abinet
are appointed by the president on the ad&ice of the prime
minister.
*n the formation of the .abinet the major portion :#3;<, (oes
to National Assembly while the rest :"3;< are taken from the
Senate. There is a democratic procedure to remo&e the
Prime Minister from his office if he loses confidence of the
majority of the members of the National Assembly. *n this
respect a resolution for a &ote of no-confidence is mo&ed by
not less than "%; of the total membership of the National
Assembly. *f the resolution is passed by majority of the total
membership of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister
immediately relin-uished powers. Similarly, for the remo&al
or impeachment of the president, not less than one-half of
the total membership of either house may (i&e in writin( its
intention to do so, to the Speaker National Assembly, or, as
the case may be, to the .hairman Senate, for mo&in( a
resolution for the purpose. *n a joint sittin( of the two houses,
con&ened for the purpose, and after the deliberations, if the
resolution is passed by the &otes of not less than two thirds
of the total membership of the Parliament, the president shall
cease to hold office immediately on the passin( of the
resolution. *n case emer(ency is proclaimed, the Parliament
holds the authority to e0tend the term of the National
Assembly. 6nder the .onstitution, the Parliament may also,
on the re-uest of the +ederal 7o&ernment, by law, confer
functions upon officers or authorities subordinate to the
+ederal 7o&ernment.
Senate
The main purpose for the creation of the Senate of Pakistan
was to (i&e e-ual representation to all the federatin( units
since the membership of the National Assembly was based
on the population of each pro&ince. /-ual pro&incial
membership in the Senate, thus, balances the pro&incial
ine-uality in the National Assembly and dispels doubts and
apprehension, if any, re(ardin( depri&ation and e0ploitation.
The role of the Senate is to promote national cohesion and
harmony and to alle&iate fears of the smaller pro&inces
re(ardin( domination by any one pro&ince because of its
majority, in the National Assembly. The Senate, is a body
which represents the pro&inces=territories of the country and
promotes a feelin( of e-uality, peace and harmony, which is
so essential for the (rowth and prosperity of a nation. Thus,
the Senate in Pakistan, o&er the years, has emer(ed as an
essential or(an and a stabili1in( factor of the federation. The
Senate consists of '%% members, of whom '! members are
elected by each Pro&incial Assembly, > members are elected
from +ederally Administered Tribal Areas :+ATAs< by the
Members of National Assembly from these areas, "
members, ' woman and 'Technocrat is elected from the
+ederal .apital by the Members of National Assembly, !
women and ! Technocrats are elected by the members of
each Pro&incial Assembly. The breakup of seats allocated to
each Pro&ince, +ederally Administered Tribal Areas :+ATAs<,
+ederal .apital, 4omen and 6lema=Technocrats. *t is the
responsibility of the .hief /lection .ommissioner to hold and
make arran(ements for the Senate elections in accordance
with the system of proportional representation by means of a
sin(le transferable &ote throu(h electoral colle(es. The term
of the members of the Senate is $ years. 9owe&er, the term
of the first (roup of the Senators, who shall retire after
completion of first years of the Senate, is determined by
drawin( of lots by the .hief /lection .ommissioner.
Electoral procedure
At the national le&el, Pakistan elects a bicameral le(islature,
the Parliament of Pakistan, which consists of a directly
elected National Assembly of Pakistan and a Senate, whose
members are chosen by elected pro&incial le(islators. The
Prime Minister of Pakistan is elected by the National
Assembly. The president is elected by the /lectoral colle(e,
which consists of both houses of Parliament to(ether with
the pro&incial assemblies. *n addition to the national
parliament and the pro&incial assemblies, Pakistan also has
more than fi&e thousand elected local (o&ernments.
/lections in Pakistan are conducted under the super&ision of
/lection .ommission of Pakistan. The country offers a multi-
party system, with numerous parties. +re-uently, no sin(le
party holds a majority, and therefore parties must form
alliances durin( or after elections, with coalition (o&ernments
formin( out of ne(otiations between parties. The Parliament
of Pakistan consists of the president and two houses to be
known respecti&ely as National Assembly and the Senate.
The National Assembly consists of !" Seats includin( $%
seats reser&ed for 4omen and '% Seats reser&ed for Non-
Muslims. The Senate consists of '%% Members includin( '#
Seats reser&ed for 4omen and '# Seats reser&ed for
Technocrats and 6lema. The Members of the National
Assembly are elected for a term of 3 years whereas the
Members of the Senate are elected for a term of $ years with
sta((ered elections e&ery years
The Parliament of Pakistan ? &i1 the .onstituent Assembly
of Pakistan ? met on '% Au(ust '@!# in the old Sindh
Assembly 8uildin( at Aarachi. *t was in this &enue that the
2bjecti&es Besolution, which now ser&es as the (rund norm
of Pakistan, was passed. *n '@3$, the first .onstitution of the
*slamic Bepublic of Pakistan was adopted in Aarachi at the
same Sindh Assembly buildin( which also passed as the
Parliament of Pakistan. After the adoption of the Second
.onstitution of '@$", Parliament sessions were arran(ed
both at Chaka and a newly constructed buildin( :Ayub 9all<
at Bawalpindi. The Parliament was uni-cameral. At the first
session of the Parliament at the Ayub 9all, the Martial ,aw,
imposed in '@3>, was re&oked. ,ater, in 2ctober, '@$$, the
Parliament was shifted to Chaka. +rom '@#" onward, the
State 8ank auditorium in *slamabad functioned as the
National Assembly of Pakistan. The *nterim .onstitution of
Pakistan was adopted here in April, '@#". *t was here that
the first bi-cameral le(islature of Pakistan was also born
after the .onstitution of the *slamic Bepublic of Pakistan was
adopted in '@#. *t was a(ain here that the Martial ,aw,
imposed in Duly, '@##, was re&oked on % Cecember '@>3.
The Parliament ? the Senate and the National Assembly ?
ha&e ac-uired a permanent abode in the present Parliament
9ouse, which was inau(urated on "> May '@>$. The 9all
was reno&ated on the orders of the Speaker and inau(urated
by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on No&ember '@@$.