National Assembly of Pakistan

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National Assembly of Pakistan

‫ایوان زیریں پاکستان‬

ِ

15th National Assembly of Pakistan

Type

Type Lower House

 of the Parliament of Pakistan

Term limits 5 years

History

Founded 1973; 49 years ago

New session 13 August 2018

started

Leadership

Speaker Vacant
since 9 April 2022

Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri[1], PTI

 since 15 August 2018

Leader of the Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N

House since 11 April 2022

Leader of the Vacant

Opposition since 10 April 2022

Structure

Seats 342[4]

Political groups Vacant (124)

Government (178)

   PML(N) (84)

   PPP (56)

   MMA (15)[2]

   MQM−P (7)

   BAP (4)

   BNP−M (4)

   PML(Q) (2)

   ANP (1)

   JWP (1)

   IND (4)

Opposition (40)

   PTI (32) [3]
    PML(Q) (3)

   GDA (3)

   BAP (1)

   AML (1)

Elections

Voting system Mixed member majoritarian

 272 members elected by FPTP;

 60 seats for women and 10 seats

for non-Muslim minorities

through PR

Last election 25 July 2018

Next election on or before 12 October 2023

Meeting place

Parliament House, Islamabad

Website

Official website

The National Assembly or Aiwān-e-Zairīñ of Pākistān (Urdu:  ‫ایوان زیریں‬ ِ

‫پاکستان‬, IPA: [ɛːʋɑːn-e zɛːrĩː ˌpɑːkɪst̪ ɑːn], literally "Pakistan lower house") is the lower
legislative house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also comprises the Senate of
Pakistan (upper house). The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at
Parliament House in Islamabad. The National Assembly is a democratically elected
body consisting of a total of 342 members who are referred to as Members of the
National Assembly (MNAs), of which 272 are directly elected members and 70 reserved
seats for women and religious minorities. A political party must secure 172 seats to
obtain and preserve a majority.[5]
Members are elected through the first-past-the-post system under universal adult
suffrage, representing electoral districts known as National Assembly constituencies.
According to the constitution, the 70 seats reserved for women and religious minorities
are allocated to the political parties according to their proportional representation.
Each National Assembly is formed for a five-year term, commencing from the date of
the first sitting, after which it is automatically dissolved. Currently the National Assembly
can not be dissolved by the President of Pakistan; it is dissolved by the Prime Minister
of Pakistan.
Election for 13th National Assembly was held on 18 February 2008. New session of
National Assembly was started from March 2008. On 17 March 2013, 13th National
Assembly was dissolved on completion of its five-year term under Article 52 of the
constitution.[6][7] 2013 Pakistani general election (for the 14th National Assembly) was
held on 11 May 2013. Members of 14th National Assembly took oath on 1 June 2013.
[8]
 The 14th National Assembly dissolved on 31 May 2018 upon completing its 5-year
term under Article 52 of the constitution. The 15th National Assembly of Pakistan took
their oath on 13 August 2018.
On 3 April 2022 President of Pakistan Arif Alvi dissolved[9] the Assembly Under Section
58-I and 48-I on the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan.[10] On 7 April, the Supreme
Court of Pakistan set aside the dissolution order, restoring the National Assembly. [11]

Contents

 1History
 2Powers
 3Members of National Assembly
o 3.1Qualifications
o 3.2National Assembly Composition
o 3.3Tenure
 4Speaker and Deputy Speaker
 5Sessions
 6Procedure
o 6.1Constitutional role
o 6.2Legislative procedures
 7Leaders
o 7.1Leader of the House
o 7.2Leader of the Opposition
 8Committees
 9Composition and elections
 102018 election
o 10.1Results of the Pakistani general election, 2018
 11Dissolution
 12See also
 13Notes
 14External links

History
Politics of Pakistan
 show

Constitution

show

Government

show

Elections

show

Administrative units

show

Federalism

show

Foreign relations

 Pakistan portal
  Other countries

 v
 t
 e

The first session of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was held on 10 August
1947 at Sindh Assembly Building, in Karachi. On 11 August 1947, Quaid-i-
Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was elected unanimously as the President of the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and the National Flag was formally approved by the
Assembly.

 On 12 August 1947, a resolution was approved regarding officially addressing

Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah as "Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah". On the
same day, a special committee called the "Committee on Fundamental Rights
of Citizens and Minorities of Pakistan" was appointed to look into and advise
the Assembly on matters relating to fundamental rights of the citizens,
particularly the minorities, with the aim to legislate on these issues
appropriately.
 On 14 August 1947, Lord Mountbatten, Governor General of India, addressed
the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. The transfer of power took place on 15
August. The Quaid gave a reply to the address in the House, on which the
principles of the State of Pakistan were laid.
 On 15 August 1947, Quaid-i-Azam was sworn in as the first Governor
General of Pakistan. Sir Mian Abdul Rashid, Chief Justice of Pakistan,
administered oath of office from him. The Quaid remained in this position until
his death on 11 September 1948.

Powers
Legislative Process Chart of National Assembly of Pakistan

... you are now a sovereign legislative body and you have got all the powers. It,
therefore, places on you the gravest responsibility as to how you should take your
decisions.

— Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his presidential address to the First Constituent Assembly
of Pakistan on 11 August 1947[12]
The Constitution, which was passed unanimously by the National Assembly in April
1973, provides a federal parliamentary system of government, with the President as the
ceremonial head of the state and an elected Prime Minister as the head of the
government. Under Article 50 of the Constitution the federal legislature is the bicameral
Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), which comprises the President and the two Houses, the
National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly, Pakistan's sovereign
legislative body, makes laws for the federation under powers spelled out in the federal
legislative List and also for subjects in the concurrent List, as given in the fourth
schedule of the Constitution. Through debates, adjournment motions, question hour,
and standing committees, the National Assembly keeps a check on the government. It
ensures that the government functions within the parameters set out in the Constitution,
and does not violate the people's fundamental rights. The Parliament scrutinizes public
spending and exercises control of expenditure incurred by the government through the
work of the relevant standing committees. The Public Accounts Committee has a
special role to review the report of the auditor general. The Senate, the upper house of
the Parliament, has equal representation from the federating units balancing
the provincial inequality in the National Assembly, where the number of members is
based on population of the provinces. The Senate's role is to promote national cohesion
and harmony, and work as a stabilizing factor of the federation. The Senate has 104
members who serve six-year terms which are alternated so that half the senators are up
for re-election by the electoral college every three years. The National Assembly
consists of 342 members. The Constitution does not empower the President to dissolve
the National Assembly. The Senate is not subject to dissolution. Only the Parliament
can amend the Constitution, by two-thirds majority vote separately in each House.

Members of National Assembly

See also: List of Pakistan National Assembly Seats
Qualifications
The Constitution of Pakistan lists a number of requirements for members of the National
Assembly in Article 62.
The constitution also details a number of disqualifications in Article 63, which
include mental instability, insolvency, criminal conviction and accepting dual-
citizenship or relinquishing Pakistani nationality, among others. Furthermore, candidates
found to have opposed Pakistan's ideology or worked against the integrity of the
country, after its establishment in 1947, are disqualified.
National Assembly Composition

Constituencies map of national assembly after delimitation in 2018

The National Assembly has 342 members, including 60 seats reserved for women and
10 for minorities, as per Article 51.[13] The seats in the National Assembly are allocated to
each province and the federal capital on the basis of population, as officially published
in the preceding census. The present allocation of seats is as under: [14]
 Sind
Punjab Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Balochistan Federal Capital Total
h

General 141 61 51 16 3 272

Women 32 14 10 4 - 60

Non-Muslims - - - - - 10

Total 173 75 61 20 3 342

Tenure
The National Assembly is elected for a five-year term on the basis of adult franchise
and one person, one vote. The tenure of a Member of the National Assembly is for the
duration of the House, or sooner, in case the Member dies or resigns. The tenure of the
National Assembly also comes to an end if dissolved on the advice of the Prime Minister
or by the President in his discretion under the Constitution. Under the 1973 Constitution,
a member of Parliament may not hold the office of the Prime Minister more than twice.
In the 1990s, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Shareef proposed a bill to amend the 1973
constitution to allow a Member to serve a third term as Prime Minister.

Speaker and Deputy Speaker

According to The Constitution

 (1) After a general election, the National Assembly shall, at its first meeting
and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a
Speaker and a Deputy Speaker and, so often as the office of Speaker or
Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall elect another member
as Speaker or, as the case may be, Deputy Speaker.
 (2) Before entering upon office, a member elected as Speaker or Deputy
Speaker shall make before the National Assembly oath in the form set out in
the Third Schedule.
 (3) When the office of Speaker is vacant, or the Speaker is absent or is
unable to perform his functions due to any cause, the Deputy Speaker shall
act as Speaker, and if, at that time, the Deputy Speaker is also absent or is
unable to act as Speaker due to any cause, such member as may be
determined by the rules of procedure of the Assembly shall preside at the
meeting of the Assembly.
  (4) The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker shall not preside at a meeting of the
Assembly when a resolution for his removal from office is being considered.
 (5) The Speaker may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President,
resign his office.
 (6) The Deputy Speaker may, by writing under his hand addressed to the
Speaker, resign his office.
 (7) The office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall become vacant if:

1. (a) he resigns his office;

2. (b) he ceases to be a member of the Assembly;
3. (c) he is removed from office by a resolution of the Assembly, of which not
less than seven days' notice has been given and which is passed by the
votes of the majority of the total membership of the Assembly.

 (8) When the National Assembly is dissolved the Speaker shall continue in
his office till the person elected to fill the office by the next Assembly enters
upon his office.
The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the National Assembly. The
speaker is assisted by the Deputy Speaker. Both officers are elected from within the
ranks of the National Assembly and, by current convention, are usually members of the
majority party. The election of the two officers is the first matter an incoming National
Assembly deals with, as mandated by the constitution. Apart from presiding over
National Assembly debates, the Speaker may also assume the duties of Acting
President, if the position is vacant (in case the President as well as Chairman Senate
are not available).
The current Speaker and Deputy Speaker are Asad Qaiser (PTI) and Qasim Suri (PTI),
respectively.

Sessions
The National Assembly is divided into sessions. It had to meet for 130 days before the
First Amendment passed on 8 May 1974 in the constitution of 1973. According to this
amendment, the maximum duration between successive sessions was reduced to 90
days from 130 days, and there must be at least three sessions in a year. A session of
the National Assembly is summoned by the President under Article 54(1) of the
Constitution. In the summoning order the President gives the date, time and place
(which is usually the Parliament House), for the National Assembly to meet. The date
and time for the summoning of the National Assembly is immediately announced over
radio and television. Generally, a copy of the summon is also sent to the Members at
their home addresses. The National Assembly can also be summoned by the Speaker
of National Assembly on a request made by at one-fourth of the total membership of the
National Assembly. If the National Assembly is so requisitioned, it must be summoned
within 14 days.

Procedure
Constitutional role
Article 50 of the Constitution provides that the Parliament shall consist of president and
the two houses known as the National Assembly and the Senate. The National
Assembly has an edge over the Senate by legislating exclusively on money matters.
With exception to money bills, however, both the houses work together to carryout the
basic work of the Parliament, i.e. law making.
Legislative procedures
The bill relating to the Federal Legislative List can be originated in either house. If the
House passed a bill through majority vote, it shall be transmitted to the other house. If
the other house passes it without amendment, it shall be presented to the President for
assent.
If the bill, transmitted to the other house, is not passed within ninety days or rejected, it
shall be considered in a joint sitting to be summoned by the President on the request of
the house in which the bill was originated. If the bill is passed in the joint sitting, with or
without amendments, by the votes of majority of the members of the two houses, it shall
be presented to the President for assent.
If the bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall assent to the bill in not later
than ten days. If it is not a money bill, the President may return it to the Majlis-e-Shoora
with a message requesting that the bill be reconsidered and that an amendment
specified in the message be considered. The Majlis-e-Shoora shall reconsider the bill in
a joint sitting. If the bill is passed again, with or without amendment, by vote of the
majority of the members present and voting, it shall be presented to the President and
the President shall give his assent within ten days; failing which such assent shall be
deemed to have been given.
Under the Constitution, the Parliament may also legislate for two or more provinces by
consent and request made by those provinces. If the federal government proclaims a
state of emergency in any province, the power to legislate about that province is vested
in the Parliament. But the bills passed by the Parliament during the state of emergency,
shall cease to be in force after the expiration of six months from the date that the
emergency is lifted. Nevertheless, the steps already taken under these acts shall remain
valid.

Leaders
Leader of the House
Main articles: Prime Minister of Pakistan and List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan
The Leader of the House is the highest ranking representative of the majority party in
National Assembly, usually the Prime Minister.
Leader of the Opposition
Main article: Leader of the Opposition (Pakistan)
The Leader of the Opposition is the highest ranking representative of the
main opposition party.
Committees
While recognizing the Committee System, the committees have been empowered to go
into all matters of the ministry. A matter can be remitted to a standing committee by the
Speaker or the Assembly suo moto and without moving any motion.
The committees have also been empowered to invite or summon before it any member
or any other person having a special interest in relation to any matter under its
consideration and may hear expert evidence and hold public hearing.

Composition and elections

The Parliament of Pakistan, according to the Constitution of 1973, is bicameral. Article
50 of the Constitution clearly states that the Parliament of Pakistan consists of the
President and two Houses known as the National Assembly and the Senate. The
composition of the National Assembly is specified in Article 51 of the Constitution of
Pakistan.[15] Originally there were 210 National Assembly seats including 10 women
which was increased to 237 in 1985 and later to 342. Currently, there are a total of 342
seats in the National Assembly. Of these, 272 are filled by direct elections. In addition,
the Pakistani Constitution reserves 10 seats for religious minorities and 60 seats for
women, to be filled by proportional representation among parties with more than 5% of
the vote. After the 25th amendment Article 51. (1) There shall be [three hundred and
thirty-six] seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for
women and non-Muslims. Article 51. [(3A) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause
(3) or any other law for the time being in force, the members of the National Assembly
from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to be elected in the general elections,
2018 shall continue till dissolution of the National Assembly and thereafter this clause
shall stand omitted.[16]
Members of the National Assembly are elected by the people in competitive multi-party
elections, to be held at most five years apart on universal adult franchise. To be a
member of electoral college, according to Article 62 of the Constitution, candidates must
be citizens of Pakistan and not less than 25 years of age.

2018 election
Main article: 2018 Pakistani general election
Results of the Pakistani general election, 2018
 Seats

Reserved[17]
Party Votes %
General Total +/–
Wome
Minorities
n

31.8 +11
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 16,903,702 116 28 5 149
2 4

24.3
Pakistan Muslim League (N) 12,934,589 64 16 2 82 –84
5

13.0
Pakistan Peoples Party 6,924,356 43 9 2 54 +12
3

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal 2,573,939 4.85 12 2 1 15 –4

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan 2,234,316 4.21 0 0 0 0 New

Grand Democratic Alliance 1,260,147 2.37 2 1 0 3 –4

Awami National Party 815,998 1.54 1 0 0 1 –2

Muttahida Qaumi Movement 733,245 1.38 6 1 0 7 –17

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) 517,408 0.97 4 1 0 5 +3

Balochistan Awami Party 319,348 0.60 4 1 0 5 New

Balochistan National Party

238,817 0.45 3 1 0 4 +3
(Mengal)
Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek 172,120 0.32 0 0 0 0

Sindh United Party 140,303 0.26 0 0 0 0

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party 134,846 0.25 0 0 0 0 –4

Pak Sarzameen Party 126,128 0.24 0 0 0 0

Awami Muslim League 119,362 0.22 1 0 0 1 0

Pakistan Awami Raj 115,226 0.22 0 0 0 0

Pakistan Muslim League (F) 72,553 0.14 0 0 0 0

Qaumi Watan Party 57,249 0.11 0 0 0 0

Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party 55,859 0.11 0 0 0 0

Balochistan National Party

55,206 0.10 0 0 0 0
(Awami)

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Islam 55,155 0.10 0 0 0 0

All Pakistan Muslim League 36,566 0.07 0 0 0 0

Pakistan National Muslim

35,415 0.07 0 0 0 0
League

Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Nazryati 34,247 0.06 0 0 0 0

Pakistan Human Party 34,246 0.06 0 0 0 0

National Party 33,432 0.06 0 0 0 0

Mutahidda Qabail Party 28,469 0.05 0 0 0 0

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) 24,582 0.05 0 0 0 0

Jamhoori Wattan Party 23,274 0.04 1 0 0 1 +1

Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan
22,145 0.04 0 0 0 0
(Noorani)

Mohajir Qaumi Movement

21,521 0.04 0 0 0 0
Pakistan

Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen 19,615 0.04 0 0 0 0

Awami Workers Party 17,935 0.03 0 0 0 0

Pakistan Justice and Democratic

12,637 0.02 0 0 0 0
Party

Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (Ch.

12,255 0.02 0 0 0 0
Anwar)

Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed

10,032 0.02 0 0 0 0
Bhutto)

(Other parties) 110,080 0.21 0 0 0 0

Independents 6,087,410 11.4 13 0 0 13 +5

 6

Postponed – – 2 – – 2 –

Invalid/blank votes — – – – – –

Total 53,123,733 100 272 60 10 342 0

Registered voters/turnout 109,955,409 51.6 – – – – –

Source: ECP