Constitutional and Political Development in Pakistan: An Insight into the Political Context and Legislative Performance of the 15th National Assembly of Pakistan (2018-2023)

Abstract

Following the general election of 2018, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as a leading parliamentary political party in the 15th National Assembly of Pakistan (2018-2023) which formed a coalition government at the center headed by Imran Khan. The Assembly functioned in a highly polarized and intricate political settings and the term of Mr. Khan was marked by unprecedented political upheavals finally witnessing the passage of the first-ever no-confidence motion against a sitting Prime Minister in the country's history, leading to a change in the executive leadership. Moreover, besides ordinary issues in relation to the working of any parliament, the Assembly confronted with the problems of excessive dependence upon presidential ordinances, lax parliamentary control, absenteeism of members and the ever-persistent quorum problem which collectively hampered the quality of the performance of the Assembly and representativeness of the laws. Accordingly, the study at hand investigates the political environment within which the 15th National Assembly functioned as well as its legislative productivity. The qualitative approach is applied to examine political happenings/events in the Assembly, legislative enactments, and institutional performance in order to understand and illuminate the changing nature of the democratic landscape of Pakistan. It finds that notwithstanding outside interference, the legislative productivity of the National Assembly improved when compared with the earlier legislatures.