Adil Najam
Late Wednesday night the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) led by PPP’s Mian Raza Rabbani signed the draft text of the “18th Amendment” to the Constitution of Pakistan.
The News reports that some are describing this as “the best constitutional thing to happen since the 1973 consensus Constitution. It is, indeed, a major – even a ‘historic’ – development.
However, given that this is Pakistan politics, it will be wise to wait until this actually passes through Parliament, actually becomes reality and its provisions are actually made clear. After all, we are quite used to things changing – dramatically at that – at the last minute, and sometimes even after the last minute!
I have been searching for a full text of the current draft but have not found it yet, meanwhile as I wade through the various reports of just what thsi means, here are a few salient points that seem to be clear. Will appreciate if readers can add more on exactly what changes are included and what they will mean for Paksiatn and its Constitution (from various news sources):
- Reportedly the draft of what is to become the 18th Amendment itself includes 95 amendments to the 1973 Constitution. These 95 amendments will effect 70 Articles of the existing Constitutions. There are three “schedules” and one “Annexure” in the draft package.
- In particular, the 18th Amendment will undo the impacts of the 8th Amendment (enacted by Gen. Zia ul Haq) which had altered over 90 Articles of the Constitution, and the 17th Amendment (enacted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf) which had altered 26 Articles of the Constitution.
- The famed article 58 (2) (b), which had first been inserted into the Constitution by Gen. Zia ul Haq and allows the President to dissolve Parliament, and which was re-enacted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been removed from the Constitution in the draft.
- The new name of the NWFP is to be Khyber-Pakhtunkwa. The PML-N which had long held out on this issue has reportedly agreed to this name change, although PML-Q has maintained some reservations to it as has PPP-Sherpao.
- On the other controversial issue of the composition of the Judicial Commission, the PML-N proposal of adding a seventh member who is a retired Supreme Court Judge has been accepted.
- The draft proposes removal of many past amendments added by military rulers, including the 17th Amendment.
- The draft abolishes the “concurrent list” and gives much more provincial autonomy than is now available to the provinces. The Council of Common Interest has been given additional powers and the provinces have been given more say on national matters by enhancing their representation in the council.
- Reportedly the draft “purges” the name of gen. Zia-ul-Haq as President from the Constitution (it is not yet clear what this means in practice).
- The next step in the process is for the draft to be now presented to the National Assembly after which the Government is expected to move the 18th Amendment for Parliamentary approval. It is expected that the draft will be tabled in Parliament within the next couple of days.
- The committee which worked on this draft for nine months includes representatives from all the political groups having representation in the two houses of parliament. It included: Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, Syed Naveed Qamar, Babar Awan, Haji Lashkari Raisani, Ishaq Dar, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi, Wasim Sajjad, S M Zafar, Humayun Saifullah, Farooq Sattar, Haider Abbass Rizvi, Ahsan Iqbal, Afrasyab Khattak, Haji Muhammad Adeel, RehmatUallah Kakar, Abdul Razaq Taheem, Mir Israr Ullah Zehri, Professor Khursheed Ahmed, Hasil Bizenjo, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Abdul Rahim Mandokhel, Shahid Bugti, Munir Khan Orakzai, and Mian Raza Rabbani.
- The original Constitution was passed in the first PPP government, which has also been the architect of the first amendments to it.
well said Watan Aziz ,
These “salamabadi jihadis” keep changing names of roads,airports,hospitals,schools ,now provinces and what not justto keep public hungry and dying on the roads, well done !18th amendment jihadis
this is great news. lets hope it passes in the next couple of days and the concept of give and take becomes a habit with the political parties and institutions of pakistan.
Never saw this before, if you remove the ‘I’ from Islamabad, it is ‘Slamabad’.
Yes, folks over there continue to “slam” Pakistan at every turn. Yes, the .01 percent of Pakistanis who live there are indeed most ungrateful.
The good news is that 99.99 percent of Pakistanis are hardworking, honest and decent folks.
SLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms – which has held 66 marathon sessions – has finalised the preamble of the 18th Amendment Bill and begun a final reading of the document, sources privy to committee proceedings told Daily Times on Sunday.
Meanwhile, only 11 of the total of 27 members participated in a session of the committee on Sunday. The sources said the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) had withdrawn its dissenting note on the participation of provinces in the Federal Shariat Court.
They said following criticism by the PML-N, the committee had proposed a limit of 11 percent of the total strength of the National Assembly for the federal cabinet.
Mian Raza Rabbani, chairman of the committee, told journalists after Sunday’s meeting that the committee would soon table the 18th Amendment Bill in parliament.
According to the sources, the preamble of the bill names rulers who introduced problematic amendments in the 1973 constitution.
“It’s a historical effort to take away incorrect amendments from the 1973 constitution and an attempt to restore the document in its original form,” said the sources.
While members are reluctant to announce a final date for the introduction of the bill in parliament, the committee has finalised draft recommendations for 80 amendments to 60 articles of the constitution.
The sources said the draft recommendations include a 60-page compendium with 14 dissenting notes. They said the ANP had proposed that FATA and PATA be made a separate province. And if that is not possible, the regions be made part of NWFP.
The sources said 14 dissenting notes had been filed by the PML-Q, the MQM, the ANP, Pakhtunkhawa Mili Awami Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Balochistan National Party (BNP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the Balochistan National Party-Awami and the Jamhuri Wattan Party (JWP).
The PML-Q’s dissenting notes are related to the concurrent list, with representatives of the forming ruling party calling for the abolishment of the list. The MQM’s note is about sales tax on goods, and the party has demanded the collection of the tax be handed over to provinces.
The JUI-F’s note is related to the procedure for the appointment of judges to the superior courts.
http://www.pakrealestatetimes.com/showthread.php?t id=10019
(The above is unconfirmed by any other source)
MEMBERS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF
THE PARLIAMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
1. Mian Raza Rabbani, Chairman PPPP Senator
2. Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao PPP(S) NA-08
3. Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan PML(N) NA-17
4. Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman MMAP NA-26
5. Mr. Hamayun Saifullah Khan PML NA-27
6. Mr. Munir Khan Orakzai IND NA-38
7. Raja Pervez Ashraf
Minister for Water & Power PPPP NA-51
8. Ch. Nisar Ali Khan
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly PML(N) NA-53
9. Ch. Ahsan Iqbal PML(N) NA-117
10. Dr. Muhammad Farooq Sattar
Minister for Overseas Pakistanis MQM NA-249
11. Mr. Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi NPP NA-211
12. Syed Naveed Qamar
Minister for Privatization PPPP NA-222
13. Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi MQM NA-253
14. Mr. Afrasiab Khattak ANP Senator
15. Dr. Abdul Malik NP Senator
16. Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan,
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs PPPP Senator
17. Haji Muhammad Adeel ANP Senator
18. Justice (Retd) Abdul Razzaq A. Thahim
Minister for Local Government & Rural Development PML(F) Senator
19. Mir Israr Ullah Zehri,
Minister for Postal Services BNP(A) Senator
20. Mr. Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhel PKMAP Senator
21. Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar PML(N) Senator
22. Mr. Rehmatullah Kakar,
Minister for Housing & Works Senator
23. Mr. S.M. Zafar PML Senator
24. Mr. Shahid Hassan Bugti JWP Senator
25. Mr. Wasim Sajjad
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate PML Senator
26. Nawabzada Mir Haji Lashkari Raisani PPPP Senator
27. Prof. Khurshid Ahmed JIP Senator