The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Paper I of LLb Part II Chapter 2 THE MAJLIS-E-SHOORA (PARLIAMENT) Composition, Duration and Meetings of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Paper I of LLb Part II  Chapter 2 THE MAJLIS-E-SHOORA (PARLIAMENT)   Composition, Duration and Meetings of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)

50. There shall be a Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) of Pakistan consisting of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the National Assembly and the Senate.

51.    (1)   The National Assembly shall consist of( two hundred and seven Muslim) members to be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law.
  (2)   A person shall be entitled to vote if
        (a)   he is a citizen of Pakistan; (b)   he is not less than (twenty one) years of age; (c)    his name appears on the electoral roll; and  (d)    he is not declared by a competent court to be of
unsound mind.
 (2A)   In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (1), there shall be in the National Assembly ten additional seats reserved as follows for the persons referred
to in clause (3) of Article 106  Christians         
           Hindus and persons belonging to the  Scheduled castes                   
                               Sikh, Budhist and Parsi communities and other non-Muslims Persons belonging to the Quadiani group or the Lahori group(who call themselves Ahmadis)

     (3)   The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.

      (4)   Until the expiration of a period of ten years from the commencing day or the holding of the (third) general election to the National Assembly, whichever occurs later, (twenty seats) in addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (1) shall be reserved for women and allocated to the
Provinces in accordance with the Constitution and law.
      (4A)   The members to fill the seats referred to in clause
(2A) shall be elected, simultaneously with the members to fill the seats referred to in clause(1), on the basis of separate electorates by direct and free vote in accordance with law.
      (5)   As soon as practicable after the general election to the National Assembly, the members to fill seats reserved for women which are allocated to a Province under clause (4) shall be elected in accordance with law on the basis of the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote by the electoral college consisting of the persons elected to the Assembly from that Province.
       (6)   Notwithstanding anything contained in this Article, the President may, by Order, make such provision as to the manner of filling the seats in the National Assembly allocated to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas as he may think fit.

52. The National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, continue for a term of five years from the day of its first meeting and shall stand dissolved at the expiration of its term.

 53.    (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 Secretary 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 be come vacant if
          (a)   he resigns his office;
          (b)   he ceases to be a member of the Assembly; or
          (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. Duration of National Assembly. Speaker and Deputy
Speaker of National 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.
54.     (1)   The President may, from time to time, summon either House or both Houses or Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) is joint sitting to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit and may also prorogue the same.
    (2)   There shall be at least (three) sessions of the National Assembly every year, and not more than one
hundred and twenty days shall intervene between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date
appointed for its first sitting in the next session:
     Provided that the National Assembly shall meet for not less than one hundred and (Thirty) working days in each year.
     Explanation.- In this clause, "working days" includes any day on which there is a joint sitting and any period, not exceeding two days, for which the National Assembly is adjourned.
    (3)   On a requisition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the National Assembly, the Speaker shall summon the National Assembly to meet, at such time nd place as he thinks fit, within fourteen days of the receipt of the requisition; and when the Speaker has summoned the Assembly only he may prorogue it.

55.    (1)   Subject to the Constitution, all decisions of the National Assembly shall be taken by majority of the members present and voting, but the person presiding shall not vote except in the case of equality of votes.
    (2)   If at any time during a sitting of the National Assembly the attention of the person presiding is drawn to the fact that less than one-fourth of the total membership of the Assembly is present, he shall either adjourn the Assembly or suspend the meeting until at least one-fourth of such membership is present.
 56.     (1)   The President may address either House or both Houses assembled together and may for that purpose require the attendance of the members.
   (2)    The President may send messages to either House, whether with respect to a Bill then pending in the Majlis-eShoora (Parliament) or otherwise, and a House to which any message is so sent shall with all convenient dispatch consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration.

   "(3)   At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the National Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both Houses assembled together and inform the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) of the causes of
its summons."

  (4)   Provision shall  be made in the rules for regulating the procedure of a House and the conduct of its business for the allotment of time for discussion of the matters referred to in Summoning and prorogation
of Majlis-eShoora (Parliament). Voting in Assembly and quorum. the address of the President.

57. The Prime Minister, a Federal Minister, a Minister of State and the Attorney General shall have the right to speak and otherwise take part in the proceedings of either House, or a joint sitting or any committee thereof, of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this Article be entitled to vote.

58.     (1)   The President shall dissolve the National Assembly if so advised by the Prime Minister; and the National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the Prime Minister has so advised.
Explanation. - Reference in this Article to “Prime Minister” shall not be construed to include reference to a Prime Minister against whom a (notice of a resolution for a vote of no-confidence has been given) in the National Assembly but has not been voted upon or against whom such a resolution has been passed or who is continuing in office after his resignation or after the dissolution of the National Assembly
    (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2) of Article 48, the President may also dissolve the National Assembly in his discretion where, in his opinion,
     (a)  a vote of no-confidence having been passed against the Prime Minister, no other member of the National Assembly is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, as ascertained in a session of the National Assembly summoned for the purpose; or

59.(1)  The Senate shall consist of eighty-seven members, of whom
      (a)   fourteen shall be elected by the members of each Provincial Assembly;

      (b)    (Eight) shall be elected by the members from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the National Assembly;

       (c)      (three) shall be (elected) from the Federal Capital in such manner as the President may, by Order, prescribe; and

        (d)    five shall be elected by the members of each Provincial Assembly to represent ulema, technocrats and other professionals.

         (2)   Election to fill seats in the Senate allocated to each Province shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
     

       (3)   The Senate shall not be subject to dissolution but the term of its members, who shall retire as follows, shall be six years:
    (a)   of the members referred to in paragraph (a) of clause
(1),seven shall retire after the expiration of the first three  years and seven shall retire after the expiration of the next Right to speak in (Majlis-eShoora (Parliament) Dissolution of the National Assembly.The Senate
three years;
      (b)   of the members referred to in paragraph (b) of the aforesaid clause, four shall retire after the expiration of the first three years and four shall retire after the expiration of
the next three years;
      (c)    of the members referred to in paragraph (c) of the aforesaid clause, one shall retire after the expiration of the first three years and two shall retire after the expiration of the
next three years; and
      (d)   of the members referred to in paragraph (d) of the aforesaid clause, two shall retire after the expiration of the first three years and three shall retire after the expiration of the next three years;
       Provided that the term of office of a person elected to fill a casual vacancy shall be the unexpired term of the member whose vacancy he has filled.

60. (1)   After the Senate has been duly constituted, it shall, at its first meeting and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman and, so often as the Office of Chairman or Deputy Chairman becomes vacant, the Senate shall elect another member as Chairman or, as the case may be, Deputy Chairman.
(2)  The term of office of the Chairman or Deputy Chairman shall be [three] years from the day on which he enters upon his office.

61. The provisions of clauses (2) to (7) of Article 53, clauses (2) and (3) of Article 55 shall apply to the Senate as they apply to the National Assembly and, in their application to the Senate, shall have effect as if references therein to the National Assembly, Speaker and Deputy Speaker were references, respectively, to the Senate, Chairman and Deputy Chairman [and as if, in the proviso to the said clause
(2) of Article 54, for the words [one hundred and thirty] the word “ninety” were substituted].