Recent debate on the so-called “number game” around constitutional amendments has drawn public attention to voting strengths in Parliament. Journalists and citizens have been curious about which political parties command the numbers required to pass amendments in the National Assembly and Senate. This interest has partly been driven by the government coalition’s narrow margin in securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

A constitutional amendment bill currently requires the support of two-thirds of the total membership of each House. This means 64 votes in the Senate and 224 votes in the National Assembly. These thresholds have varied over time as the strength of both Houses has changed.

FAFEN’s report on how the constitutional amendment process has evolved since 1973

A historical review shows that many constitutional amendments have been passed with thin margins. FAFEN examined official parliamentary records to document the level of support and opposition each constitutional amendment received in both Houses since the Constitution’s enactment in 1973.

How many constitutional amendments have been voted upon in Parliament?

Since the Constitution came into force on August 14, 1973, a total of 27 government-supported constitutional amendment bills has been introduced in the Parliament. Of these, 24 were enacted after approval by both Houses and assent by the President. Two were voted upon in only one House, while one was withdrawn without a vote.

FAFEN report on which political party has led how many constitutional amendments

How did each constitutional amendment fare in parliamentary voting?

Below is a consolidated record of votes polled in both Houses on the Constitution Bill, 1973, and all subsequent constitutional amendments:

[T = Total Membership; Y = Votes in Favour of the Bill; N = Votes against the Bill]

Name of Bill Origin National Assembly Senate
T Y N T Y N
The Constitution Bill, 1973 National Assembly 1461 125 0 Not Applicable
The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1974 National Assembly 1462 94 0 453 25 2
The Constitution (Second Amendment) Act, 1974 National Assembly 146 130 0 45 31 0
The Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1975 National Assembly 146 100 1 45 26 0
The Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act, 1975 National Assembly 146 102 0 45 26 0
The Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1976 National Assembly 1524 111 0 45 29 0
The Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act, 1976 National Assembly 152 105 7 45 27 4
The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1977 National Assembly 2105 153 0 636 38 0
The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act, 1985 National Assembly 2377 188 0 878 74 0
The Constitution (Ninth Amendment) Bill, 1985 Senate Bill was never voted upon in the National Assembly. Bill was declared to have been passed but the number of votes were not documented.
The Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act, 1987 National Assembly 237 174 1 87 69 45
The Constitution (Eleventh Amendment) Act, 1989 Senate Bill was introduced in the Senate but was later withdrawn without any voting.
The Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Act, 1991 National Assembly 2179 154 26 87 65 6
The Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1997 National Assembly 217 190 0 87 71 0
The Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1997 National Assembly 217 181 0 87 76 0
The Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1998 National Assembly 217 151 16 Bill was never voted upon in the Senate.
The Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1999 National Assembly 217 162 4 87 63 1
The Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003 National Assembly 34210 248 0 10011 72 0
The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 National Assembly 342 292 0 100 90 0
The Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 National Assembly 342 258 1 10412 80 0
The Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Act, 2012 National Assembly 342 247 0 104 74 2
The Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 2015 National Assembly 342 247 0 104 78 0
The Constitution (Twenty-second Amendment) Act, 2016 National Assembly 342 236 0 104 71 0
The Constitution (Twenty-third Amendment) Act, 2017 National Assembly 342 255 4 104 78 3
The Constitution (Twenty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2017 National Assembly 342 242 1 104 84 1
The Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2018 National Assembly 342 229 1 104 71 5
The Constitution (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 2019 Senate 33613 225 12 9614 65 5
The Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025 Senate 336 234 4 96 64 0

Why do the numbers show so little recorded opposition?

You may be wondering if there was no opposition to the bills where votes against them are recorded as zero. This is not necessarily the case. In many cases, members who opposed an amendment chose to boycott the voting process instead of participating and voting against the bill. Members who left the House did not avail the opportunity to formally register their dissent in terms of votes. Unfortunately, abstentions and boycotts are not always recorded in parliamentary verbatim records. That is why the historical count cannot reflect the full extent of disagreement. As a result, several amendments appear to have passed without any votes against them.

Footnotes

1. Under the Legal Framework Order, 1970, the National Assembly elected in 1970 was to have a total of 313 members responsible for framing and approving the Constitution. According to official National Assembly records, only 146 elected members took oath of office. These included 138 members from the four provinces of West Pakistan and two members from East Pakistan. Additionally, six members were elected from the four West Pakistan provinces on seats reserved for women.
2. Under Article 271 of the original Constitution 1973, the total membership of the first National Assembly included all those members who took oath before the commencing day of the Constitution, i.e. August 14, 1973. The said article placed multiple other conditions upon the membership. The total membership of the National Assembly remains unclear in the official records.
3. Under Article 272 of the original Constitution of 1973, the first Senate comprised 45 members.
4. The Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act, 1975 provided for six additional seats in the National Assembly to be reserved for non-Muslims. Elections on these seats were held in March 1976. Whether these seats were counted in the total membership of the House is unclear because Article 271 referred only to members who had taken oath before the commencing day of the Constitution (August 14, 1973).
5. Under Article 51 of the original Constitution, the total membership of the National Assembly to be elected after the first Assembly was set at 210, including 200 general seats and 10 seats reserved for women.
6. Under Article 59 of the original Constitution of 1973, the total membership of the Senate after the general election 1977 stood at 63.
7. Through the Revival of the Constitution of 1973 Order, 1985, the President and Chief Martial Law Administrator General Zia-ul-Haq increased the number of general seats from 200 to 207, increased seats reserved for women from 10 to 20, and allocated 10 additional seats for non-Muslims, raising the National Assembly’s total membership to 237.
8. The Revival of the Constitution of 1973 Order, 1985 increased the total number of seats in the Senate from 63 to 87.
9. Under Article 51(4) of the original Constitution 1973, the seats reserved for women were discontinued after the second general election in 1985, reducing the National Assembly’s total membership to 217 from 1988 onwards until 2002.
10. Through the Legal Framework Order, 2002, Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf increased the number of general seats from 200 to 272 and allocated 60 seats for women, while retaining the existing seats for non-Muslims. This raised the National Assembly’s total membership from 217 to 342.
11. Through the Legal Framework Order, 2002, Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf increased the total number of seats in the Senate from 87 to 100.
12. The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 added four seats for non-Muslims to the Senate, increasing its total membership to 104.
13. The Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2018 merged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reducing the National Assembly’s total membership from 342 to 336. This change took effect after the National Assembly elected in General Elections 2018 completed its term.
14. The Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2018 also reduced the Senate’s total membership from 104 to 96. This provision took full effect in March 2024, following the expiry of the six-year term of the last FATA Senators elected in 2018.