Prorogation ends a session and means that the National Assembly can be summoned again. Dissolution ends the Assembly’s entire term leading to a fresh election and constitution of a new Assembly. On prorogation, some pending business lapses, but can be re-listed in the next session. On dissolution, all pending business lapses absolutely — nothing carries over to the new Assembly.

Why it matters for the National Assembly proceedings?

The distinction matters enormously for legislative continuity. A government that prorogues a session loses pending business temporarily. A government — or an opposition — that faces dissolution loses all pending legislative work permanently. Dissolution resets the entire legislative machinery and requires a new election to reconstitute the Assembly.

What is in it for citizens?

When political crises trigger discussion of early dissolution, citizens should understand the downstream consequences: all ongoing legislative work, including bills in committee and motions under consideration, would lapse. Any ongoing parliamentary inquiry would cease. The urgency this creates for completing accountability processes before dissolution is a real factor in parliamentary strategy.

Source: Rules 4 and 253, 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 22 times, most recently on 9 March 2026.

This post is part of FAFEN’s series on parliamentary literacy. Read more of this series here