National Assembly of Pakistan is bicameral legislation of Majlish –i- Shura which consists of the senate, an upper house of Pakistan parliament. It is located in Islamabad. It is a democratically elected body that consists of 336 members among which seventy seats are reserved for women and minorities and the rest of 272 seats are for those members who are directly elected.
For obtaining a majority, a party needs to secure one hundred and thirty-seven seats. The number of national assembly members is based on the province’s population. The leader of the ruling party, often Prime Minister is considered to be the Head of the National Assembly. The members are elected through the constituencies of the national assembly.
Each member is selected for a duration of five years as well as same is the case with the National Assembly of Pakistan which is also formed for five years and dissolves automatically after the completion. This article contains all the information including the National Assembly of Pakistan History.
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Details | |
Location: | Islamabad, Pakistan |
Last Election: | 11 May 2013 |
Voting system: | Mixed member majoritarian (First past the post for most seats, 60 seats reserved for women, and 10 seats reserved for religious minorities by proportional representation) |
Opposition (132): | Pakistan Peoples Party (47) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (33) Muttahida Qaumi Movement (24) Jamaat-e-Islami (4) Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (4) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (2) Awami National Party (2) Balochistan National Party (1) Qaumi Watan Party (1) Pakistan Muslim League (Z) (1) National Party (1) Awami Muslim League (1) AJIP (1) All Pakistan Muslim League (1) Independents (9) |
Government Coalition (209): | Pakistan Muslim League (N) (189) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (13) Pakistan Muslim League (F) (5) National People’s Party (2) |
Leader of Opposition: | Khurshid Shah (PPP) Since 7 June 2013 |
Leader of House : | Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) Since 5 June 2013 |
Deputy Speaker: | Javed Abbasi (PML-N) Since 3 June 2013 |
Speaker: | Speaker Ayaz Sadiq[1] (PML-N) Since 9 November 2015 |
Type: | The lower house of the Parliament of Pakistan |
Website: | www.na.gov.pk |
13th National Assembly was held: | 18 February 2008 |
Meeting place: | Parliament House, Islamabad |
Political Groups: | PPP (124) PML-(N) (91) PML-(Q) (51) |
Last Election: | 18 February 2008 |
Our Vision: | To transform the performance into one of excellence and in so doing contribute to the creation of a better quality of life for the people of Mauritius. |
Table of Contents
National Assembly of Pakistan History
Pakistan National Assembly’s first constituent was held in August 1947 and Mohammad Ali Jinnah was selected as the President of Pakistan. Under this constituency, the national flag of Pakistan was approved by the assembly. Mohammad Ali Jinnah was named Quaid – e- Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah under a resolution that was passed on Aug 12, 1947. The fundamental rights of minorities were also considered in this constituency.
Quaid –e- Azam was elected as the first Governor-General of Pakistan on Aug 15, 1947. While on the same date Sir Abdul Rashid took an oath from Governor-General of Pakistan and selected as the first Chief Justice of Pakistan in history. Quaid e Azam remained as Governor-General till he died in Sep 1948.
Power Contributions
The National Assembly passed a constitution in 1973 under which the President is assigned as the head of the state and the Prime Minister was given the power to rule the government. The parliament of Pakistan comprises two houses including Senate and National Assembly.
National Assembly was held responsible to make laws under the power of legislation and to schedule constitutions through committees, question hours, and debates. They are also responsible to keep a check on the functions of government in order to avoid right violations of the people.
National Assembly of Pakistan Criteria
It has set criteria for the election of members under article 62 of 1973 constitutions which will result in the rejection of members from the election. The points are given below.
- Dual Citizenship
- Mental instability
- Criminal Conviction
- Insolvency
- Opposing the ideology of Pakistan
- Involvement in the cases against the integrity of Pakistan
Composition of National Assembly
It contains a total number of 342 members. According to article 51 of constitute of 1973, National Assembly comprises 10 seats of religious minorities and sixty seats of women. The remaining seats are distributed among provinces on the basis of their population. The present official allocation of the seats is given below.
- Punjab – 173 seats (General= 141, Women=32
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – 61 seats (General=51, Women=10)
- Sindh – 75 seats (General=61, Women=14)
- Baluchistan – 20 seats (General=16, Women=4)
- Federal Capital – 3 (General seats)
National Assembly of Pakistan Tenure
The members are elected for a duration of five years on the basis of a single person single vote. The assembly can be dissolved if the member of the national assembly resigns or dies, or even if the Prime Minister of Pakistan advises dissolving the assembly. A member of the parliament is not permitted to hold the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan more than two times under the constitution of 1973.
The Ex-Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto suggested a bill in 1990, in order to make amendments in the constitution of 1973 for the sake to allow a parliament member to serve the nation as a Prime Minister for the third time.
Senate
Senate is considered to be the upper house of the parliament of Pakistan which plays an important role in the process of law-making for the government of Pakistan. There are many responsibilities of the parliamentary senate which comprise the balance of national assembly’s provincial inequality, to promote harmony and national interest, and to work in the federation as a stable factor
The Senate of Pakistan comprises 104 members who are selected for a duration of six years so that half of the senate members could re-elect after every 3 years by the electoral college of legislation.
Process of Legislation
The bill of legislation can be initiated by either National Assembly or Senate. If a house passes a bill, it will be forwarded to the other house for making amendments or if it is passed without amendments by the other house of the parliament, it shall be handed over to the President of Pakistan for agreement.
Furthermore, if a bill is rejected or not passed by the other house in 90 days, it shall be presented to the president for consideration by the house where the bill is initiated. However, if a bill is passed with or without amendments by both of the houses of parliament, it shall be forwarded to the president of Pakistan for making an agreement.
When a bill is handed over to the President, he shall be responsible for the bill’s assent within ten days, and the President may send it to the Majlis-i-Shoora for reconsideration and making an amendment if it is not a financial bill. The bicameral legislation is responsible for reconsidering the bill in a setting with a proper amendment.
National Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker
The primary duty of the National Assembly is to elect the speaker and deputy speaker of the assembly after the general election. Before starting government businesses the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the assembly take oath who gives a schedule to the government tasks.
In the absence of the speaker of the assembly, the deputy speaker takes the charge of the speaker. Moreover, if the deputy speaker is also unable to perform operations of the speaker then a meeting is arranged by the Assembly for the selection of the speaker from the ruling party.
On the other hand, if the resolution passes for the removal of the speaker or deputy speaker, then none of them can join the meetings held in National Assembly. A speaker can resign from, his duty if he writes a resignation letter approved by the Prime Minister, and a Deputy Speaker has to write a letter to the Speaker for his resignation. The speaker takes control after dissolving of National Assembly till the coming of a new party in control who elect the new speaker of the assembly.
National Assembly of Pakistan Sessions
The assembly arranges three sessions of ninety days a year. The duration of 90 days is reduced from one hundred and thirty days under the amendment of 1974 in the 1973 constitution. President summons the place, date, and time of the session under the articles 54 (1) 1973 constitution. The speaker can also summon up the session in the favor of one-forth members.
National Assembly Committees
Committees are empowered to interfere in all ministry issues after the establishment of the Committee System. They are also authorized to invite or summon any member of the assembly for holding public hearings.
Elections
According to the article (62), 1973 constitution of Pakistan, a person needs to have Pakistani citizenship and aged 25 years to compete in the general election. The total number of National Assembly seats is 342 among which 271 are directly filled with general elections; sixty seats are assigned to females and ten seats to the religious minorities. The party that wins the majority of seats leads the country as a Prime Minister of the country.
Opposition
Opposition is the party that wins second more seats of the national assembly. The Party of Pakistan Muslim League N (PNLN) is considered the opposition party of the country.
The general elections in Pakistan were held thirteen times till now among which the first two elections were indirect and non-party based elections. The general elections in Pakistan were held in the following years
- 1954 – Indirect election
- 1962 – Non-Party Based Election
- 1970 – Indirect Election
- 1977 – Direct Election (PPP)
- 1985 – Direct Election (PML)
- 1988 – Direct Election (PPP)
- 1990 – Direct Election (IJI)
- 1993 – Direct Election (PPP)
- 1997 – Direct Election (PMLN)
- 2002 – Direct Election (PMLQ)
- 2008 – Direct Election (PPP)
- 2013 – Direct Election (PMLN)
- 2018 – Direct Election (PTI)
Social Media Handles
http://www.na.gov.pk/en/index.php