Parliament of Pakistan

Joined the Commonwealth: 14 August 1947 

CPA Branch formed: 1 January 1948 

Capital City/Seat of Parliament: Islamabad  

Unicameral/Bicameral:  Bicameral 

Parliament/Legislature websites:

National Assembly website - https://na.gov.pk/en/index.php 

Senate website - https://senate.gov.pk/en/index.php 

Number of Departmental/Ministry Oversight Committees: 34 Standing Committees.

Names of House Management (such as Privileges or Procedure) Committees: Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges; House and Library Committee; Business Advisory Committee; Senate Privilege and House; Senate Rules of Procedure.

Recent articles in The Parliamentarian: 

• The Parliamentarian 2023 Issue One - Role of Presiding Officers in Leading Parliamentary Innovation bu Hon. Raja Pervais Ashraf, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2022 Issue One - View from the CWP Chairperson - Trade in the Commonwealth: Connectivity, sustainable development and gender equality - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian 2022 Issue One - Reflecting on two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Parliamentary response: a case of National Assembly of Pakistan - Ms Bisma Rahman Zafar, Assistant Director (Research) at the National Assembly of Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2022 Issue One - Role of Parliaments in Enhancing Trade and Connectivity: How Parliament of Pakistan is leveraging Parliamentary Diplomacy to turn Power into Impact - Mr Shehzad Saeed, Assistant Director (Research) at National Assembly of Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Four - View from the CWP Chairperson - Advancing women and girls with disability - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Four - The Parliament of Pakistan’s disability audit - Ms Zil-e-Huma, CPwD Asia Regional Champion
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Four - How can Parliaments be more accessible to persons with disabilities? - Ms Zil-e-Huma, CPwD Asia Regional Champion
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Four - From Identity to Independence: Building a holistic eco-system for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Pakistan - Omair Ahmad and Khalid Sherwani CPA Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Two - View from the CWP Chairperson - Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian 2021 Issue Two - Galvanising the effort to fund and deliver twelve years’ of quality education for every Commonwealth child - Hon. Mehnaz Akber Aziz, MNA
• The Parliamentarian 2020 Issue Four - View from the CWP Chairperson - Relationship between social media and democracy - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian: 2020 Issue Four – 'Does Social Media Bridge the Gap between Parliament and the People in Pakistan?' by Ms Nighat Paristan, Deputy Director, Research Wing, National Assembly Secretariat, Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2020 Issue Three - View from the CWP Chairperson - Financial Inclusivity for Women in the Commonwealth: The ultimate challenge and barrier post-COVID-19? - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian: 2020 Issue Two – 'Strategic Self Assessment against the CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures' by Salma Joveria, Deputy Director IR, National Assembly of Pakistan
• The Parliamentarian 2020 Issue One - View from the CWP Chair - Creating a new vision for CWP - Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA
• The Parliamentarian: 2018 Issue Three – 'New Legislation Introduces Transgender Rights in Pakistan' by Hon. Syed Naveed Qamar, MP
• The Parliamentarian: 2018 Issue Two – 'Historic Moment in Parliamentary Communications in Pakistan with Launch of PTV Parliament' by Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director - Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services 
• The Parliamentarian: 2017 Issue Three – 'Democracies in Transition: The Senate of Pakistan' by Ms Neelofur S. Hafeez, Senior Research Fellow in the Senate of Pakistan

Recent involvement in CPA Programmes: 

Between 2018-2020 the Parliament of Pakistan took part in the Commonwealth Partnership for Democracy (#CP4D) programme aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and promoting good governance across Commonwealth countries.  

The Pakistan Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the National Assembly of Pakistan hosted the 5th CPA Asia Regional Conference on the theme of ‘Envisioning Parliamentary Paths towards a Diverse and Developed South Asia’. The CPA Asia Regional Conference saw delegates from the CPA Pakistan Branch and from the Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan as well as from Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Uganda, Malaysia and the United Kingdom participate in the Regional Conference from 29 July to 2 August 2019 in Islamabad. 

A seminar for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) was held for women Members at the 5th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Asia Regional Conference.

In 2020, presenters from the CPA Pakistan Branch, including the Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan MNA, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network, participated at a number of CPA Virtual Post Election Seminars.

In 2021, Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians from the CPA Asia Region, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Pakistan; Punjab; Sindh Branches all joined the discussion on how Commonwealth Parliaments can effectively establish gender sensitive practices as the CWP network hosted its virtual roundtable on gender sensitive Parliaments.