Parliament of Pakistan
The Parliament of Pakistan is the supreme legislative body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature, composed of the Senate and the National Assembly, with the President of Pakistan as the head of the legislature. The president, upon the advice of the Prime Minister, has full powers to summon and prorogue either house or a joint session of Parliament or to dissolve the National Assembly.
The parliament's both houses convene at the Parliament House within the governmental Red Zone of Islamabad, the federal capital. Both houses of the parliament have their own separate chambers; and in case of a joint session, the National Assembly chamber is used.
About 80 percent of the members of the National Assembly are directly elected by the voting of citizens in single-member constituencies under first-past-the-post voting system; while about 20 percent are elected on seats reserved for women and religious minorities, in accordance with parliamentary standing of the respective political parties. The senators are elected by the members of all provincial assemblies by proportional representation, while four represent the federal capital. As of 2024, the parliament has a total strength of 432 with 336 members of the National Assembly and 96 senators.History
Founding
The Muslim League of the Indian subcontinent had, since the middle of twentieth century, demanded for a separate homeland on the basis of the Two-nation theory. The British rulers realized that the Hindus and Muslims of India remained two separate and distinct nations and socio-cultural entities. The British rulers were left with no option but to eventually accept the demand of the Muslims of India. On 3rd June 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, called the conference of all the leaders of the Sub-continent and communicated to them his Government's Plan for the transfer of power. At that time, a notification was issued in the Gazette of India, published on 26 July 1947 in which the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was given shape with 69 Members, including one female Member. The State of Pakistan was created under the Independence Act of 1947. The Act made the existing Constituent Assemblies, the dominion legislatures. These Assemblies were allowed to exercise all the powers which were formerly exercised by the Central Legislature, in addition to the powers regarding the framing of a new Constitution, prior to which all territories were to be governed in accordance with the Government of India Act 1935. 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 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 Jinnah as Quaid-i-Azam. 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, the Transfer of Power took place. Lord Mountbatten, Governor General of India, addressed the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. 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, the Quaid-i-Azam was sworn in as the first Governor General of Pakistan. Mian Sir Abdur Rashid, Chief Justice of Pakistan, administered the oath of office from him. The Quaid remained in this position till his death on 11 September 1948.1949 Objectives Resolution
The foremost task before the first Constituent Assembly was the framing the Constitution for the nation. On 7 March 1949, the Objectives Resolution, which now serves as the basic law of Pakistan, was introduced by the first Prime Minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, and later adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 12 March 1949. On the same day, a 24-member Basic Principles Committee was formed to prepare a draft Constitution on the basis of the Objectives Resolution. On 16 October 1951, Khan, the mover of the Objective Resolution, was assassinated and Khawaja Nazimuddin took over as the Prime Minister on 17 October 1951. The final draft of the Constitution was prepared in 1954. By that time, Muhammad Ali Bogra had taken over as the Prime Minister. However, just before the draft could be placed in the house for approval, the Assembly was dissolved by the then Governor General Ghulam Muhammad on 24 October 1954. The Prime Minister was, however, not dismissed and was asked to run the administration, with a reconstituted Cabinet, until such time as the elections were held. Maulvi Tamizuddin, President of the Assembly, challenged the dissolution in the Sindh Chief Court, and won the case. The Government in return, went to the Federal Court, where the famous judgment was given by the then Chief Justice Muhammad Munir, according to which Maulvi Tamizuddin lost the case.
Furthermore, according to the book: Nigel Kelly, the objective resolution was filed on 12 March 1949, filed by Khwaja Nazimudin, Liaquat ali khan along with 25 members of the basic principle committee. It declared the some objectives including that the legal system should be independent of government. It also contained references to Islam.1955 Second Constituent Assembly
The second Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was created on 28 May 1955 under Governor General's Order No.12 of 1955. The Electoral College for this Assembly was the Provincial Assemblies of respective Provinces. The strength of this Assembly was 80 Members, half each from East Pakistan and West Pakistan. One of the major decisions taken by this Assembly was the establishment of West Pakistan, with the aim to create parity between the two wings. This Assembly also achieved its target by giving the first Constitution to the nation i.e. the Constitution of Pakistan 1956. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali was the Prime Minister at that time. The draft of this Constitution was introduced in the Assembly on 9 January 1956 and was passed by the Assembly on 29 February 1956. The assent was given on it by the Governor General on 2 March 1956. This Constitution was enforced with effect from 23 March 1956. Under this Constitution, Pakistan became an Islamic Republic, hence 23 March became the country's Republic day. It was the same day in 1940 that the historic Pakistan Resolution was adopted at Minto Park, Lahore. On 5 March 1956, Major General Iskandar Mirza became the first President of Pakistan. The 1956 constitution provided for Parliamentary form of government with all the executive powers in the hands of Prime Minister. The President was the Head of State, and was to be elected by all Members of the National and Provincial Assemblies. He was to hold office for 5 years. The President was to act on the advice of Prime Minister, except where he was empowered to act in his discretion. Under 1956 Constitution, Parliament was unicameral. Legislative powers vested in the Parliament, which consisted of the president and the National Assembly with 300 Members divided equally between East and West Pakistan. In addition to these 300 seats, five seats were reserved for women for each of the two wings, for a period of ten years: thus bringing the total membership of the house to 310. However, in the absence of any law to control the Political Parties and the problem of floor crossing, political instability perpetually ensued. Although the first general election were scheduled for early 1959, President Iskandar Mirza abrogated the Constitution, dissolved the National and Provincial Assemblies, and declared Martial Law, on 7 October 1958. He appointed General Muhammad Ayub Khan, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. The new administration did not satisfy CMLA Ayub Khan who had more control in the administration than President Mirza. Ayub dispatched the military unit to enter in presidential palace on the midnight of 26–27 October 1958 and placed him in an airplane to exile in England.1960 Constitution Commission
On 27 October 1958 General Muhammad Ayub Khan took over as second President of Pakistan. One of the first major steps taken by General Ayub Khan was the appointment of a Constitution Commission on 17 February 1960. The objective of this commission was to submit proposals, as to how best democracy can be strengthened and molded according to the country's socio-political environment and Islamic principles of justice. The Commission submitted its report to the government on 29 April 1961. On the basis of this report a new Constitution was framed and given to the nation on 1 March 1962. General elections under the new Constitution were held on 28 March 1962 and elections to the special seats reserved for women were held on 29 May 1962. The first session of the third National Assembly was held on 8 June 1962 at Ayub Hall, Rawalpindi. The Constitution of 1962 envisaged a Federal State with Presidential form of government, with the National Assembly at the centre and the Provincial Assemblies in the Provinces. The Legislatures, both at center and in provinces were unicameral. The Federal system had been curtailed by allowing the Provincial Governors to be appointed directly by the president. All executive authority of the Republic of Pakistan, under the Constitution, vested in the office of the president. The President appointed his Cabinet members who were directly responsible to him. The electoral system was made indirect, and the 'Basic Democrats', for both wings were declared Electoral College for the purpose of electing the assemblies and the president. Basic democrats were 80,000 in number. The total membership of the National Assembly was 156, one half of whom were to be elected from East Pakistan and other half from West Pakistan, also three seats were reserved for women from each province. The term of this Assembly was three years. The norm was established that if the president was from West Pakistan, the Speaker was to be from East Pakistan and vice versa. One of the major achievements of this Assembly was the passage of Political Parities Act, 1962. On 25 March 1969 the second Martial law was imposed and General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan took over as the president of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator. He later issued a Legal Framework Order, under which the first ever general elections were held on 7 December 1970. This was the first Assembly elected on the adult franchise and population basis. It consist of 313 members, 169 from East Pakistan and 144 from West Pakistan including 13 reserved seats for women. Soon after the elections, due to grave political differences, the Province of East Pakistan seceded from West Pakistan and became Bangladesh. On 20 December 1971 Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto took over as the President of Pakistan as well as the first civil Chief Martial Law Administrator.