Parliament of Pakistan

Parliament of Pakistan پارلیمان پپاکستان
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate (Upper) National Assembly (Lower)
Leadership
Chairman of Senate	Raza Rabbani (PPP) Since 12 March 2015
Speaker of National Assembly	Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N) Since 5 Nov 2015
Leader of the House (Upper)	Raja Zafar-ul-Haq (PML-N) Since 12 March 2015
Leader of the House (Lower)	Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) Since 5 June 2013
Leader of Opposition (Upper)	Aitzaz Ahsan (PPP) Since 12 March 2015
Leader of Opposition (Lower)	Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah (PPP) Since 7 June 2013
Structure
Seats	446 Parliamentarians 104 Senators 342 MNAs
Senate political groups	PPP (27)      PML-N (26)      MQM (8)      PTI (7)      ANP (6)      JUI–F (5)      PML-Q (4)      NP (3)      PkMAP (3)      BNPA (2)      BNP (1)      JI (1)      PML-F (1)      Independent (10)
National Assembly political groups	Government coalition (209)      PML-N (189)      JUI (13)      PML-F (5)      NPP (2) Opposition (132)      PPP (47)      PTI (33)      MQM (24)      JI (4)      PkMAP (4)      PML-Q (2)      ANP (2)      BNP (1)      QWP (1)      PML-Z (1)      NP (1)      AML (1)      AJIP (1)      APML (1)      Independents (9)
Elections
Senate voting system	Single Transferable Vote
National Assembly 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)
Senate last election	5 March 2015
National Assembly last election	11 May 2013
Meeting place
Parliament House Building Islamabad, Pakistan
Website
www.na.gov.pk www.senate.gov.pk

Government coalition (209)

Opposition (132)

The Parliament of Pakistan, (Urdu: پارلیمان پاکستان‎ — Parlêman ê Pākistān); is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature that consists of the Senate as upper house and the National Assembly, as lower houses. According to the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of Pakistan is also a component of the Parliament. The National Assembly is elected for a five-year term on the basis of adult franchise and one-man 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.

The Parliament meets at the Parliament House building in Islamabad, where debating chambers for both houses are present. Until 1960, the Parliament House was located in Karachi. Parliament House of Pakistan is the first and only parliament in the world that runs completely on self-generated solar power.

The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the parliament. The National Assembly has 342 seats, 272 of which are directly elected, 60 are reserved for women and a further 10 for religious minorities. The National Assembly of Pakistan is the country's sovereign legislative body. It embodies the will of the people to let themselves be governed under the democratic, multi-party Federal Parliamentary System. The National Assembly makes laws for the Federation in respect of the powers enumerated in the Federal Legislative list. Through its debates, adjournment motion, question hour and Standing Committees, the National Assembly keeps as check over the Executive and ensures that the government functions within the parameters set out in the Constitution and does not violate the fundamental rights of citizens. Only the National Assembly, through its Public Accounts Committee, scrutinizes public spending and exercises control of expenditure incurred by the government. The Members of the National Assembly are to be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law.