The Constitution of Pakistan allows for the removal of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly through a resolution passed by the majority of the total membership of the Assembly. The detailed procedure for the removal is laid down in the National Assembly Rules.
A member seeking removal of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker files a notice of a resolution with specified charges. The notice is circulated among all the members and the motion for leave is set down for the first working day after seven days of submitting the notice. At that sitting, no other business is listed. Leave is granted only if at least one-fourth of total Assembly membership rises in favour of the motion. Voting on the final resolution is by secret ballot and requires a majority of total membership. Before the voting, the members may discuss the resolution. The Speaker cannot prorogue the Assembly session while a removal resolution is pending.
Why it matters for the National Assembly proceedings?
The removal procedure is designed to be serious. The seven-day notice period, the quarter-Assembly threshold for leave, and the secret ballot on the final vote all reflect the gravity of removing the presiding officer.
What is in it for citizens?
The Speaker’s removal mechanism is one of the Assembly’s most significant accountability tools — directed at the legislature’s own presiding officer. Understanding this procedure helps citizens evaluate credible complaints about Speaker impartiality against tactical political maneuvers designed to destabilize the Assembly.
Source: Rule 12, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007
The proceedings of the National Assembly are governed by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. The current rules were passed on 23 February 2007 and have since been amended 21 times, most recently on 22 October 2024.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on parliamentary literacy. Read more of this series here.
