The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the Senate being the upper house. It has a maximum membership of 336, of which 266 are directly elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, while 60 are proportionally elected on reserved seats for women and religious minorities from all over the country. Members of the National Assembly hold their seats for five years or until the house is dissolved by the president of Pakistan on the advice of the prime minister. The house convenes at the Parliament House in the Red Zone of Islamabad.

Established in 1956 upon promulgation of the first Pakistani constitution, the National Assembly succeeded the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan as the country's federal parliament — which remained unicameral until the formation of the Senate in 1973 under the current constitution. Initially existing as a directly-elected body, it became indirectly-elected under the Basic democracy system, introduced by Ayub Khan. It was restored to its original status of direct election in 1970.

Each assembly is formed for a five-year term, commencing from the date of its first meeting, after which it is automatically dissolved upon the term's completion. Following the passing of the eighteenth amendment, the National Assembly can only be prematurely dissolved by the president on the prime minister's advice. The 16th National Assembly is the latest to be elected in February 2024 and will continue till 2029 unless dissolved earlier.

The boundaries of the constituencies of the National Assembly are redrawn by the Election Commission of Pakistan after every national census, based on population. The last census was conducted in 2023 and the election in 2024 was based on it. All elections for the National Assembly are also conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

History

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 the fundamental rights of the citizens, particularly the minorities, 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 an oath of office from him. The Quaid remained in this position until his death on 11 September 1948.

Powers

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 hours, 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 scrutinises 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 in reviewing 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 stabilising 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 a two-thirds majority vote separately in each House.

List of Assemblies +No.NameTerm startTerm end11st National Assembly of the Pakistan1947195422nd National Assembly of the Pakistan1955195833rd National Assembly of the Pakistan1962196544th National Assembly of the Pakistan1965196955th National Assembly of the Pakistan1972197766th National Assembly of the Pakistan1977197777th National Assembly of the Pakistan1985198888th National Assembly of Pakistan1988199099th National Assembly of Pakistan199019931010th National Assembly of the Pakistan199319961111th National Assembly of the Pakistan199719991212th National Assembly of the Pakistan200220071313th National Assembly of the Pakistan200820131414th National Assembly of the Pakistan201320181515th National Assembly of the Pakistan201820231616th National Assembly of Pakistan2024present

Members of the National Assembly

Qualifications The Constitution of Pakistan lists several requirements for members of the National Assembly in Article 62.

The constitution also details several 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

The National Assembly has 336 members, including 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for Non-Muslims, as per Article 51. The seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each province and the federal capital based on population, as officially published in the preceding census. The present allocation of seats is as under: +Composition of National Assembly of PakistanProvince/AreaGeneral SeatsWomenNon-MuslimsTotalPunjab14132173Sindh611475Khyber Pakhtunkhwa451055Balochistan16420Federal Capital33At-large1010Total2666010336

Tenure The National Assembly is elected for a five-year term based on 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 Sharif 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:

(a) he resigns his office; (b) he ceases to be a member of the Assembly; (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 Ayaz Sadiq (PMLN) and Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah (PPP) respectively.

Sessions The National Assembly is divided into sessions. It had to meet for 130 days before the First Amendment was 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 (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 the National Assembly on a request made by 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 the 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 houses work together to carry out the basic work of the Parliament, i.e. law-making.

Legislative procedures