ISLAMABAD: The farewell session of the14th National Assembly will be held on Thursday after completion of its five years constitutional term and legislators are all set to highlight their five year’s performance in their speeches.
A total of 56 sessions of the National Assembly had been held since June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2018. In addition to this, 12 joint sessions of the parliament were also held during this tenure.
The House remained in session for the longest time during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s 126-days sit-in in the federal capital.
Various heads of the states including Turkey, Indonesia and China addressed the joint session of the parliament. President Mamnoon Hussain also addressed the joint session of the parliament five times.
The incumbent National Assembly has also the distinction to pass six federal budgets.
The House also passed a total of 189 bills during the last five years tenure besides passing 136 Act of Parliament.
As many as 11 bills were passed during the first parliamentary year 2013-14, eight bills in the 2nd parliamentary year 2014-15, 50 bills in 2015-16, 57 bills in 2016-17 and 63 bills in 2017-18.
Some of the important bills passed during the last five years included The Constitution (Thirty-first Amendment) Act, 2018 formally known as FATA merger bill, the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Evening Courts Act, 2018, the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Act, 2018, The Transgender Persons (Protection and Rights) Act, 2018, the Supreme Court and High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction to Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Bill, 2018, the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2017, the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2017, the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, the Elections Act, 2017.
Similarly, the Companies Act, 2017, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017, the Representation of the People Act, 2017, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Act, 2017, the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, 2017, the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Bill, 2017, the Constitution (Twenty-Eight Amendment) Act, 2017, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2017, the Hindu Marriage Act, 2016, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Act, 2016, the Constitution (Twenty Second Amendment) Act, 2016, the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 2015, the Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 and the Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 bills were also passed during the said period.
First time in the history of National Assembly, seven bills were passed in the joint sitting out of which four were private member bills. About 16 private member bills became laws during the tenure of incumbent assembly.