History Of N.A

BRIEF HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT HOUSES IN PAKISTAN

Old Sindh Assembly

Building, Karachi

The Parliament of Pakistan - viz the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan - met on August 10, 1947 in the old Sindh Assembly Building at Karachi. Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was elected as its first President. It was in this venue that the Objectives Resolution, which now serves as the grund norm of Pakistan, was passed. In 1956, the first Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was adopted in Karachi at the same Sindh Assembly building which also passed as the Parliament of Pakistan.

Parliament Building, Dhaka

After the adoption of the Second Constitution of 1962, Parliament sessions were arranged both at Dhaka and a newly constructed building (Ayub Hall) at Rawalpindi. The Parliament was uni-cameral. At the first session of the Parliament at the Ayub Hall, the Martial Law, imposed in 1958, was revoked. Later, in October, 1966, the Parliament was shifted to Dhaka.

Ayub Hall, Rawalpindi

State Bank Auditorium

From 1972 onward, the State Bank auditorium in Islamabad functioned as the National Assembly of Pakistan. The Interim Constitution of Pakistan was adopted here in April, 1972. It was here that the first bi-cameral legislature of Pakistan was also born after the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was adopted in 1973. It was again here that the Martial Law, imposed in July, 1977, was revoked on December 30, 1985.

The Parliament - the Senate and the National Assembly - have acquired a permanent abode in the present Parliament House, which was inaugurated on May 28, 1986. The Hall was renovated on the orders of the Speaker and inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 3rd November, 1996.

Present Parliament House

Islamabad