ARTICLE 51 National Assembly

51.

National Assembly: (1) There shall be three hundred and forty-two seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims.   (2) A person shall be entitled to vote if- (a) he is a citizen of Pakistan; (b) he is not less than eighteen years of age; (c) his name appears on the electoral roll; and (d) he is not declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind;   (3) The seats in the National Assembly referred to in clause (1), except as provided in clause (4), shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital as under- General Seats Women Total Balochistan 14 3 17 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 35 8 43 Punjab 148 35 183 Sindh 61 14 75 Federally Administered Tribal Areas 12 - 12 Federal Capital 2 - 2 Total 272 60 332   (4) In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (3), there shall be, in the National Assembly, ten seats reserved for non-Muslims.   (5) The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.   (6) For the purpose of election to the National Assembly,- (a) the constituencies for the general seats shall be single member territorial constituencies and the members to fill such seats shall be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law; (b) each Province shall be a single constituency for all seats reserved for women which are allocated to the respective Provinces under clause (3); (c) the constituency for all seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be the whole country; (d) members to the seats reserved for women which are allocated to a Province under clause (3) shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party from the Province concerned in the National Assembly: Provided that for the purpose of this sub-clause the total number of general seats won by a political party shall include the independent returned candidate or candidates who may duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates; (e) members to the seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats won by each political party in the National Assembly: Provided that for the purpose of this sub-clause the total number of general seats won by a political party shall include the independent returned candidate or candidates who may duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates.