Download __FULL__ Constitution Of Pakistan 1973
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[Home][Databases][CommonLII][Search][Feedback][Help]Constitution of the Islamic Republic of PakistanYou are here: CommonLII >> Databases >> Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan >> 1973 [Database Search][Name Search][Help]Table of Contents
By the end of World War II, the British imperial government granted independence to its Indian colony and for that matter the British Parliament enacted the Indian Independence Act, 1947. Under the Act, the British Crown relinquished its sovereign powers over India and transferred those powers to the newly established dominions of India and Pakistan on 14 August 1947. The Government of India Act, 1935, hitherto the constitution of British India, was amended to bring it in consonance with the aims and objectives of independence as laid down in the 1947 Act. The combination of these two constitutional instruments served as an interim constitutional order for both countries until their respective constituent assemblies adopted their own constitutions.
In the constitution making processes in the three constituent assemblies of Pakistan (1947-1954, 1955-1956, 1972-1973), producing the 1956 and (current) 1973 constitutions, the Islamic character of the state and federalism were the two vexatious questions that prevented the forging of consensus amongst ethnonational groups on constitutional design of the instruments that have governed the polity thus far.
Federal discourse in Pakistan has been and continues to be structured by two antithetical visions of identity, both articulated by two competing forces. The centripetal forces, representing the state elites, have aimed at creating a homogeneous society and a monolithic national identity, employing Islam as a unifying force in the service of building a centralized Muslim Nation State, despite the multiethnic and deeply divided character of the society. The centrifugal forces, representing the diverse ethnic, linguistic, cultural and regional groups, on the other hand, have been pushing back against the officially sponsored nation- and state-building project and making counter-demands for constitutional recognition of the multiethnic character of the polity and their accommodation in a multinational framework within a decentralized federal order. The diverging visions have not only structured the federal discourse but also shaped the design of all constitutional instruments.
Members of the constituent assembly (1972-1973) that drafted the current constitution were elected in 1970 when the country was still united. The secession of East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) in 1971 altered the political landscape of the country in fundamental ways. Nevertheless, no fresh elections were held and members elected from West Pakistan in the 1970 elections formed the constituent assembly for Pakistan.
Prior to the separation of Pakistan in 1971, state elites, mostly coming from Punjab, demanded anti-majoritarian constitutional protections against the possible domination of the Bengali majority from East Pakistan, which constituted 56% of the total population of the then Pakistan. Nevertheless, in post-1971 Pakistan, after Punjab became the largest province, comparable demands of ethnonational minority groups for a non-majoritarian constitution making process and the incorporation of consociational principles in the draft constitution were rejected. Accordingly, the composition of the Constitution Committee entrusted with making the draft constitution, as well as in the Interim Constitution of 1972, reflected the dominance of representatives from the biggest provinces, despite the significant politically salient group cleavages in Pakistani society.
The President is the head of state, represents the unity of the republic and is elected by a simple majority of an electoral college consisting of members of the two houses of federal legislature and of the four provincial legislatures. The President can be removed if he or she is found unfit to hold office due to physical incapacity or impeached in case of violation of the constitution in a joint sitting of the federal houses by votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership.
The Prime Minister is elected by members of the lower house of the federal legislature after every general election, and other cabinet ministers are appointed by the President according to the advice of the Prime Ministers. The executive authority of the federal government is exercised in the name of the President by the Prime Minister, or through him, by the federal ministers. The federal cabinet under the Prime Minister aids and advises the President in the exercise of her or his functions. However, in the performance of her or his functions, the President is to act on and in accordance with the advice of the cabinet or the Prime Minister, except in cases where the constitution has vested the President with discretionary powers. The Prime Minister is to keep the President informed about all matters of internal or foreign policy, and all legislative proposals the federal cabinet intends to bring before parliament.
The constitution provides for the federal legislative list with 71 subjects and the provincial legislatures have exclusive powers of law making on subjects not enumerated in the federal legislative list. A provincial assembly may voluntarily delegate to the federal legislature the power of law making on subjects on which it is competent to make laws. The executive authority of federal and provincial government extends to matters on which the federal and provincial legislatures respectively have the powers of law-making.
The 60-year-old general, in full military uniform, disclosed the long-awaited constitutional amendments in a 90-minute address on national television and radio a few days after Pakistanis voted for representatives to a 237-seat National Assembly and to provincial assemblies in the first elections since Zia took power.
In 1969, the 1962 constitution was suspended, martial law was declared, and General Yahya Khan took over. After the secession of East Pakistan to form the new state of Bangladesh, a new constitution was brought in 1973.
The 1973 constitution created a parliamentary form of democracy in which the executive power is concentrated in the office of the prime minister. It established the Pakistani president as the formal head of state, bound to act on the advice of the prime minister. The parliament consists of two houses--the national assembly and the senate. The Constitution also provides for four provincial governments and the distribution of legislative power between the federation and the provinces. Moeen Cheema, assistant professor of law and policy at Lahore University of Management Sciences, says that though the constitution provided for it, provincial autonomy was never really implemented by the 1973 constitution. He holds all military and civilian governments guilty on this charge.
The new constitution included an article (6) which stated anyone who now abrogated or attempted or conspired to abrogate or subvert the constitution shall be "guilty of high treason." It was an attempt to guard against the takeover of the state by future military rulers. This did not stop army chief General Zia ul-Haq from staging a coup, proclaiming martial law in 1977, holding the constitution in abeyance, and putting in its place a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). The PCO not only gave the military regime the right to rule but also the right to amend the constitution at will. The regime used this to fashion a new constitutional order for the post-martial law period. In 1985, the 1973 constitution was revived but an eighth amendment was introduced into the constitution that changed its basic structure and some of its essential features. It shifted the executive power from the office of the prime minister to that of the president and under article 58(2)(b) he was also given the right to dissolve the national assembly at his discretion. Experts say the amendment diminished provincial autonomy and created a weak legislature and a docile judiciary.
Article 58(2)(b) was used in the 1990s by the president to dismiss the elected governments of Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption. Sharif, when he came to power a second time in 1997, abolished the article and instead gave the prime minister the power to dissolve the national assembly. When Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf deposed him in a coup in 1999, yet another phase of constitutional amendments began.
Musharraf was reelected in October 2007 in another controversial election. The following month, he declared another state of emergency, suspended the constitution (which had been amended through the legal framework order), and brought in another PCO. This time the PCO targeted the judiciary and the media.
The right to free and compulsory education is an internationally acknowledged right. It has been recognized in a number of international conventions, covenants and declarations. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 acknowledged the right to free and compulsory secondary education in Part-II, Chapter 2, on Principles of Policy.
Fact Focus is uploading all the constitutions of Pakistan. The post contains the Original Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Interim Consitution of Pakistan 1972, Constitution of Pakistan 1956, Constitution of Pakistan 1962, Revival of Constitution Order of the third military dictator of Pakistan General Ziaul Haq and Constitution of Pakistan as it exited after different amendments in the constitution.
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