Constitution 1973 § Article 224 — Time of Election and bye-election

Statutory text (English)

2[
(1) A general election to the National Assembly
or a Provincial Assembly shall be held within a period of sixty days immediately following the day on
which the term of the Assembly is due to expire, unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved, and
the results of the election shall be declared not later than fourteen days before that day.]
3[(1A) On dissolution of the Assembly on completion of its term, or in case it is dissolved under
Article 58 or Article 112, the President, or the Governor, as the case may be, shall appoint a care-taker
Cabinet:

Provided that the care-taker Prime Minister shall be 4[appointed] by the President in
consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National
Assembly, and a care-taker Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor in consultation with the
Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Provincial Assembly:
4[
Provided further that if the Prime Minister or a Chief Minister and their respective Leader of
the Opposition do not agree on any person to be appointed as a care-taker Prime Minister or the care-
taker Chief Minister, as the case may be, the provisions of Article 224A shall be followed:]

Provided 1[also] that the Members of the Federal and Provincial care-taker Cabinets shall be
appointed on the advice of the care-taker Prime Minister or the care-taker Chief Minister, as the case
may be.
(1B) Members of the care-taker Cabinets including the care- taker Prime Minister and the care-
taker Chief Minister and their immediate family members shall not be eligible to contest the
immediately following elections to such Assemblies.

Explanation.— In this clause, “immediate family members” means spouse and children.]

(2) When the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly is dissolved, a general election to
the Assembly shall be held within a period of ninety days after the dissolution, and the results of the
election shall be declared not later than fourteen days after the conclusion of the polls.

(3) An election to fill the seats in the Senate which are to become vacant on the expiration of
the term of the members of the Senate shall be held not earlier than thirty days immediately preceding
the day on which the vacancies are due to occur.

(4) When, except by dissolution of the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly, a 2[*]seat
in any such Assembly has become vacant not later than one hundred and twenty days before the term
of that Assembly is due to expire, an election to fill the seat shall be held within sixty days from the
occurrence of the vacancy.

(5) When a seat in the Senate has become vacant, an election to fill the seat shall be held within
thirty days from the occurrence of the vacancy.
3[
(6) When a seat reserved for women or non-Muslims in the National Assembly or a Provincial
Assembly falls vacant, on account of death, resignation or disqualification of a member, it shall be
filled by the next person in order of precedence from the party list of the candidates to be submitted to
the Election Commission by the political party whose member has vacated such seat1[:]]
1[
Provided that if at any time the party list is exhausted, the concerned political party may
submit a name for any vacancy which may occur thereafter.]
4[* * * * * * *]

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 224: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 112, 113, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 112, 113) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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