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 and also for subjects in the Concurrent 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 Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a Federal State comprising four provinces of Balochistan, 
the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) the Punjab and Sindh; Islamabad is the Federal Capital 
with Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). These federating units offer a lot of diversity
 and variety in terms of languages, levels of social and economic development, population
 density and climatic conditions.

The Members of the National Assembly are to be elected by direct and free vote in accordance 
with law. 

 

CONSTITUTIONAL ROLE

Article 50 of the Constitution provides that the Parliament of Pakistan shall consist of 
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 the Houses work together to carryout the basic work of 
the Parliament, i.e. law making.

 

LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE

The Bill relating to the Federal Legislative List or Concurrent List can be originated in either
 House.  If the House passed the Bill through majority vote, it shall be transmitted to the

 other House.  If the other House passes it without amendment, it shall be presented to the
 President for assent.

 

If the Bill, transmitted to the other House, is not passed within ninety days or rejected or 
amended, it shall be considered in a joint sitting to be summoned by the President on the 
request of the House in which the Bill was originated.  If the Bill is passed in the joint
 sitting, with or without amendments, by the votes of majority of the total members of the two
 Houses, it shall be presented to the President for assent.

 

If the Bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall assent to the Bill in not later
 than thirty days.  If it is not a Money Bill, the President may return the Bill to the
Majlis-e-Shoora with a message requesting that the Bill be reconsidered and that an amendment 
specified in the message be considered.  The Majlis-e-Shoora shall reconsider the Bill in a 
joint sitting.  If the Bill is passed again, with or without amendment, by vote of the majority
 of the members present and voting, it shall be presented to the President and the President 
shall not withhold assent there from.

 

Under the constitution, the Parliament may also legislate for two or more Provinces by consent 
and request made by those Provinces. If the Federal Government proclaims State of Emergency in 
any province, the power to legislate about that province is vested in the Parliament.  But the 
Bills passed by the Parliament during the State of Emergency, shall cease to be in force after 
the expiration of six months from the date Emergency is lifted.  Nevertheless, the steps 
already taken under these Acts shall remain valid.

 

In exercises of its constitutional role, the Parliament also has other very important duties to 
perform.  The President, who is at the apex, is elected by members of both Houses of the 
Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies.  The Prime Minister, who heads the Cabinet and is 
meant to aid and advise the President in his functions, belongs to the National Assembly. He
 enjoys the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly.  Members of the
 Cabinet are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

 

In the formation of the Cabinet the major portion (75%), goes to National Assembly while the 
rest (25%) are taken from the Senate.

 

There is a democratic procedure to remove the Prime Minister from his/her office if he/she loses
 confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly.  In this respect a 
resolution for a vote of no-confidence is moved by not less then 20% of the total membership of 
the National Assembly.  If the resolution is passed by majority of votes in the National 
Assembly, the Prime Minister immediately relinquished powers.

 

Similarly, for the removal or impeachment of the President, not less than one-half of the total
 membership of either House may give in writing its intentions to do so, to the Speaker National
 Assembly, or, as the case may be, to the Chairman Senate, for moving a resolution for the 
purpose.  In a joint sitting of the two Houses, convened for the purpose, and after the 
deliberations, if the resolution is passed by the votes of not less than two thirds of the 
total membership of the Parliament, the President shall cease to hold office immediately on 
the passing of the resolution.

 

In case emergency is proclaimed, the Parliament holds the authority to extend the term of the
 National Assembly.  The Parliament is also empowered to pass various resolutions on matters
 like extension in the term of the Chief Election Commissioner for one year.  Under the 
Constitution, the Parliament may also, on the request of the Federal Government, by law, confer
 functions upon officers or authorities subordinate to the Federal Government.























Federalism (from the Latin fdus, "covenant") is a system of government
 A form of government (also referred to as a system of government or a 
political system) is a system composed of various people, institutions 
and their relations in regard to the governance of a state. 


Definition There are several definitions of the political system, some 
of them similar to those of state or government. 

A political system is a complete set of institutions (ex. parliament, 
courts), political organisations, interest groups - such as political 
parties, trade unions, lobby groups), the relationships between those 
institutions and the political norms and rules that govern their 
functions (constitution, election law). 


..... Click the link for more information.  in which power is divided 
by constitutional right between national and local units of government
 in regions. A state that follows the federal system is known as a 
federation A federation is a state comprised of a number of 
self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states, or 
provinces) united by a central (federal) government. In a federation 
the self-governing status of the component states is constitutionally 
entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the 
central government. Federations may be multi-ethnic, or cover a large 
area of territory, although neither is necessarily the case. 
Federations are often founded on an original agreement between a 
number of sovereign states. The component states of a federation 
usually do not have the right to secede unilaterally .
..... Click the link for more information. . Examples of federal 
systems include the governments of Australia Australia is the 
sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to 
occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of
 Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an
 Australian State. Its neighbouring countries include New Zealand to
 the southeast; and Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor to its
 north. The country is formally named the Commonwealth of Australia.
..... Click the link for more information. , Belgium 
For alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian 
redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, 
see Belgian.
The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Belgi, French: Belgique, German: 
Belgien) is a country in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, 
Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Belgium is at a 
cultural crossroad between Germanic Europe (with Dutch speakers in the 
North, the Flemings, and German speakers in the East) and Romance 
Europe (with French speakers in the South, the Walloons), which is 
reflected in its complex institutions and political history.
..... Click the link for more information. , Brazil 

This article is about Brazil, the country. For other article subjects 
named Brazil see Brazil (disambiguation).
The Federative Republic of Brazil (Repblica Federativa do Brasil in 
Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America.
 Spanning a vast area between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean, it 
borders Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, 
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Named after brazilwood, 
a local tree, Brazil is home to both extensive agricultural lands and 
rain forests. 
..... Click the link for more information. , Canada Canada,
 historically the Dominion of Canada, is the second-largest, and 
northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation 
of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional 
monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confederation. It
 occupies most of the northern half of North America. 

Canada's capital is Ottawa, home of the nation's parliament as well 
as the residences of the Governor General and the Prime Minister. A 
former French then British colony, Canada is a member of both La
 Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations.
..... Click the link for more information. , Germany 
National motto: Unity and Justice and Freedom
(German: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit)
Official language German
Capital Berlin
Largest City Berlin
President: Horst Khler
Chancellor: Gerhard Schrder
Area 
 - Total 
 - % water Ranked 61st 
349,223 km 
2.416%
Population 
 - Total (2004) 

..... Click the link for more information. , Malaysia The Federation 
of Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. It consists of two
 geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: 

Peninsular Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula is bordered to the north 
by Thailand and to the south by Singapore; 

East Malaysia, the northern part of the island of Borneo (also known 
as Kalimantan) is bordered to the south by Indonesia and borders the 
kingdom of Brunei on the east, south, and west.
..... Click the link for more information. , Mexico 


This article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see 
Mexico (disambiguation)
The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
 or Mxico; regarding the use of the variant spelling Mjico, see 
section The name below) is a country located in North America, bordered
 to the north by the United States, to the south-east by Guatemala and
 Belize, to the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Gulf
 of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is the northernmost and third 
largest country in Latin America and is at the same time the most 
populated Spanish-speaking country. 
..... Click the link for more information. , the former Soviet Union 

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: ???? ???????
?? ???????????????? ????????? (????); tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh 
Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR))
..... Click the link for more information. , Switzerland The Swiss 
Confederation or Switzerland is a landlocked federal state in central 
Europe, with neighbours Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international co-operation, as it is home to many international organisations. 
Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin version of the official name, 
avoids choosing one of the four official languages. Its abbreviation, 

..... Click the link for more information. , the United States of
 America 

United States of America
(U.S. Flag) (U.S. Great Seal)
National Mottos
(1776 - ): E Pluribus Unum
(Latin: "Out of many, one")
(1956 - ): In God We Trust
Official language None at Federal Level,
Some States Specify
English; de facto, Spanish spoken by growing minority, especially in 
the West
..... Click the link for more information. , and the former 
Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan 
state that existed from 1945 to 1992. 

It was formed in 1945 from remains of the pre-war Kingdom of 
Yugoslavia under the name Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, in 1946 it 
changed its name to Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and again 
in 1963 to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 

The SFRY bordered on Italy and Austria to the northwest, Hungary and 
Romania to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece and Albania to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the west.
..... Click the link for more information. . Some countries, whilst not being formal federations, function like them - Spain, for instance, gives more powers to its autonomous communities Spain's fifty provinces (provincias) are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autnomas), in addition to two African autonomous cities (ciudades autnomas) (Ceuta and Melilla). 



Formation and PowersCentralism, nationalism and separatism played an important role in the Spanish transition. For fear that separatism would
..... Click the link for more information.  than most federations to their constituent parts
