‘18th Amend bill to be tabled on 26th’

[Interceptor]

‘18th Amend bill to be tabled on 26th’

25/03/2010

ISLAMABAD: The 18th Amendment bill will be tabled before parliament on March 26 (Friday) and President Asif Ali Zardari will also address the joint session of parliament on the same day, Minister for Law and Justice Babar Awan said on Wednesday.

Talking to journalists at the Parliament House, he said the sessions of both houses of parliament would continue until the 18th Amendment bill is approved by a two-thirds majority.

The minister said the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms has already completed its task, and its members would sign the recommendation today (Thursday). He said the president had announced the constitutional reforms package during his address to the joint sitting of parliament last year. Following the speech, the National Assembly formulated a constitutional committee under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani.

He said the 18th Amendment would restore the 1973 constitution to its original form after 37 years. The minister said the constitutional reforms package would also be a milestone for all democratic forces. staff report

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...5-3-2010_pg1_5

[Interceptor]

What a sham the 18 amendment put on hold after Nawaz Sharif declined sign it. What silly decision by Nawaz.

[Neo]

Nawaz is biggest threat to democracy, he should go!

[Interceptor]

‘Bill of hope’ tabled

Saturday, April 03, 2010

* Rabbani presents 100 recommendations for restoration of 1973 constitution including those for repeal of LFO 2002 and 17th Amendment


By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Raza Rabbani, chairman of the parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms, tabled in parliament on Tuesday the 18th Amendment Bill, which seeks to empower the prime minister in line with the 1973 Constitution, envisages a participatory federal system and proposes new safety valves to discourage military coups in the future.

The parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms has proposed more than 100 amendments in the constitution, including those for the repeal of the LFO of 2002, the 17th Amendment and the Sixth and Seventh schedules of the constitution and the abolishment of the concurrent list. The amendments also seek to lift the bar limiting tenures in the offices of the prime minister and chief ministers to not more than two.

The reforms committee has dedicated the 61-page document to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. “It is a bill of hopes... this is a bill of people’s emancipation, this is a bill of federal Pakistan, this is a bill guaranteeing rights of provinces... this bill ensures supremacy of parliament,” said Rabbani while tabling the draft in parliament amid lawmakers’ applause.

Highlighting the proposals of the committee, Rabbani said while a few subjects in Federal Legislative List I were to be transferred to Federal Legislative List II, the concurrent list would be abolished and the Sixth and Seventh schedules repealed.

The committee has proposed the substitution of Article 59, and recommended that the strength of the Senate be increased to 104 members. Rabbani said the committee had proposed the substitution of Article 51, according to which there would be 342 seats for members in the National Assembly.

The draft proposes the substitution of Article 70 with ‘Introduction of Passing of Bills’, which says “a bill... may originate in either House and shall... be transmitted to the other House, and if the bill is passed without amendment by the other House also, it shall be presented to the president for assent... bills not passed within ninety days... shall be considered at a joint sitting of parliament”.

Amending Article 89, the draft says the president would not promulgate an ordinance if any of the two Houses is in session. Once an ordinance is promulgated, it would stand repealed after 120 days. The period may be extended by another 120 days if a resolution is passed by parliament before the expiry date.

Changes in Article 127 seek that provincial assemblies remain in session for 100 days instead of 70 during a parliamentary year, while an amendment to Article 61 proposes the Senate remain in session for 90-110 days.

The committee has proposed in Article 168 that the auditor general hold office for a term of four years.

An amendment to Article 48 says the president must announce a date for general elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. Also, if at any time, the prime minister considers it necessary to hold a referendum on any matter of national importance, he may refer the matter to a joint sitting of parliament for approval. Caretaker chief ministers are to be appointed by the outgoing government and the opposition.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...3-4-2010_pg1_1

[sonicboom]

Highlights of the 18th Constitutional Amendment
Jump to Comments

Posted by Raza Rumi

* Amendment to Article 6 seeks to pre-empt military coups in future
* Article 58(2b) to be repealed, substituted with ‘Dissolution of National Assembly’
* President may dissolve NA in case no-confidence vote passed against PM
* Total strength of cabinet should not exceed 11% of total membership of parliament
* Governor should be a resident and registered voter of his/her province, he/she would be appointed by president on prime minister’s advice
* Provinces required by law to establish local government systems, devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected representatives
* PM to be chairperson of CCI, members to include CMs, 3 members from federal govt
* Amendment to Article 157 says federal government must consult provincial government before installing hydroelectric power stations in any province
* PM to forward three names for office of CEC, in consultation with opposition leader in National Assembly, to a parliamentary committee for confirmation
* Committee proposes insertion of Article 175(a) to deal with appointment of judges to Supreme Court, high courts, Federal Shariat Court
* Committee proposes substitution of Article 243, says federal government ‘shall have control and command of armed forces, supreme command of armed forces shall [rest with] … president’
* President to appoint Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman, chief of army staff, chief of naval staff, chief of air staff
* NWFP will be renamed ‘Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawah’
* State will provide free, compulsory education to children aged between 5 and 16 years
* Amendments to Clause 1 seek substitution of ‘Baluchistan’ with ‘Balochistan’, ‘Sind’ with ‘Sindh’
* Insertion of clause sought to bar persons acquiring citizenship of foreign country from contesting elections to parliament
* All elections under constitution, other than those of PM and CM, to be by secret ballot

Courtesy Daily Times, Pakistan

From Adil Najam’s post:

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.

http://pakteahouse.wordpress.com/201...ent/#more-8058

[Interceptor]

Editorial: What the 18th Amendment means for Balochistan

It has taken the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) a long and tiring journey to restore the essence of the 1973 Constitution it gave to the country. The PPP is justified in proudly celebrating the consensus it managed to earn among all the political parties. What needs to be recalled is the hard circumstance under which the ruling party thwarted all conspiracies hatched against President Zardari and proved that democracy was the best revenge. The drums of victory would have surely sounded much louder in the national media, which is predominantly subservient to the country’s military establishment, if a similar historic initative had been taken by a military dictator. Yet, the PPP has once again outvoted dictatorship, autocracy and the rule of gun with the power of ballot.

Founded on June 23, 2009, the 27-member parliamentary constitutional committee was tasked to revisit the 1973 constitution in order to strike a balance of power between the President and the Prime Minister. It was also assigned the task to repeal the controversial 17th Amendment, which was introduced by former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf to empower the president against the prime minister to such an extent that the latter could even dismiss the parliament and sack the elected prime minister at any time without being answerable to any authority for his deeds.

Senator Raza Rabbani, the chairman of the Constitutional Committee, rightly deserves to be extolled for his perseverance to carry on with the constitutional package in spite of a brazen effort by opposition leader Nawaz Sharif to sabotage the entire process. In fact, it was the only time when many parliamentarians, irrespective of their political affiliations, realized that the country desperately needed consensus on a number of crucial constitutional matters and Sharif could not be allowed to single-handedly highjack an urgently needed process of constitutional reforms.

Sanity prevailed among all the parliamentarians who acknowledged that the country had never come so close to revoking the damage done to the constitution of Pakistan by successive military dictators such as General Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

Under the historic accord signed by members of all political parties represented in the parliament, the sovereignty of the parliament has been restored as powers snatched from by the elected prime minister and given to the president under the infamous 17th Amendment would now once again be given to the prime minister. Hence, the president of Pakistan would now be deprived of the power to dissolve the parliament by arrogantly exercising his powers under article 58 (2)- b.

By renaming the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), justice has rightly been done with the people of that province. This has been a longstanding demand of the people of the Khabar-Pakhtunkhawa that the name of their province should reflect their identity. Pakhtun nationalists had to struggle very hard for several decades to get their province’s name changed.

Another area of progress is the pledge in the 18th Amendment to get rid of the Concurrent List. Even though a promise was made while introducing the 1973 Constitution that the Concurrent List would be abolished ten years after the promulgation of the constitution, the pledge was never fulfilled due to Islamabad’s unwillingness to share powers with the provinces.

The 18th amendment is another major success by the PPP in its efforts to restore real democracy in the country and strengthen the federation. Previously, the PPP succeeded in sorting out a new consensus formula on the National Finance Commission (NFC) award among the four provinces and the federal government. Similarly, efforts were made to assuage the Baloch anger by presenting a Balochistan Package and reforms were inducted in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The measures taken under the 18th Amendment will require more time to fully yield fruits. What is important to understand is the limited period of time during which the democratic government has worked tirelessly to settle political issues through peaceful dialogue. The PPP government has, unfortunately, come under the conspiracies of a troika of military, judiciary and the media since day one. The government faced all the pressures tactfully and forced the detractors of democracy that it was for the democrats, not the dictators, to run the affairs of the state.

From Balochistan, Senators Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo of the National Party (NP), Agha Shahid Bugti of the Jamori Watan Party (JWP), Israrullah Zehri of the Balochistan National Party(BNP-Awami) are the prominent Baloch leaders who have signed the 18th Amendment Bill. On its part, the biggest Baloch nationalist party, the Balochistan National Party of Sardar Akhtar Mengal has categorically rejected the constitutional package by saying that the government ‘April-fooled’ the Baloch with the constitutional package. According to Mengal, a former chief minister of the province, his party was not a part of the constitutional committee and the abolition of Concurrent List is utterly irrelevant in the current situation when Balochistan is engulfed in a war-like situation.

Seen in the backdrop of Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s reaction, it is safe to conclude that the armed groups involved in Balochistan for separation, who hold more radical views than Sardar Mengal, will not take the constitutional package very seriously. Many of these organizations have not even considered the package worth commenting on which translates into the stark rejection by Baloch nationalists representing a large segment of the annoyed Baloch youth.

It has yet to be seen how the federal and provincial governments interpret the 18th Amendment for the restive province of Balochistan. Does the package include what it takes to put out the fire in Balochistan is something that the government has to explain.

http://thebalochhal.com/2010/04/edit...r-balochistan/

[Neo]

The sudden hero

By Nadeem F. Paracha
Friday, 09 Apr, 2010

Supporters of Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari shout slogans during a pro-Zardari rally in Lahore. – AFP (File Photo)

The historic passage of the 18th Amendment Bill in the current National Assembly is rightly being paired with the country’s first ‘Constitutional revolution’ i.e. the making and passage of the 1973 Constitution during the government of the country’s first elected Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The 1973 Constitution was an outcome of a widespread consensus struck between the ruling PPP government and parliamentary parties, both on the left and the right.

But the recent (18th) Amendment, whose contents are said to be an attempt to restore the 1973 Constitution in its ‘original shape and spirit,’ is truly something special; perhaps even more so than the moment when the National Assembly passed the 1973 Constitution (the first of its kind in Pakistan).

However, it was Z. A. Bhutto who himself became the first violator of the said constitution. This act of his set a disastrous precedent for the many heads of state and governments who followed him after 1977.

By the time his executioner, General Ziaul Haq, began finding a firm footing as the country’s third military dictator, he is on record in describing the 1973 Constitution as nothing but a piece of paper. To pad his outburst against this, the wily General went on to ape the hyperbolic disposition of right-wing parties such as the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and Egypt’s fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, by saying that ‘our constitution is the Qu’ran.’

Of course, the harsh (and so-called) ‘Islamic laws’ that the General enacted during his eleven terrible years as head of state, are not exactly based on the holy book; but rather on a vicious mixture of man-made fallacies such as what is called ‘Political Islam,’ and a perception of society, politics and gender that is rooted in ancient patriarchal cultures of Arab tribes.

Ziaul Haq went on to sabotage the constitution with a number of amendments, the biggest being the amendment that gave the president the power to dismiss a popularly elected government and parliament – mainly on the basis of his own individual whims.

This power has been used by (three) Presidents four times ever since 1985. It was finally revoked by the second Nawaz Sharif government in 1997 (through the 16th Amendment), but there was little celebration attached to the event.

That is because also in the pipeline were amendments being suggested by the Sharif government, which smacked of the kind of political and theological hypocrisies the Zia dictatorship was known for.

In the name of Shariah and Islam, Nawaz had actually wanted to (constitutionally) give the prime minister dictatorial powers. Whereas Zia had given the parliament an Islamic tone by calling it the ‘Majlis-e-Shoorah,’ Nawaz wanted the prime minister (mainly himself), to be known as ‘Ameerul Momineen’ (commander of the faithful).

It was such ‘Zia-ist’ acrobatics of the second Sharif regime, that (supposedly) made his tormentor, General Parvez Musharraf, reawaken the idea of returning the power of dismissing an elected government to the President (through the 17th Amendment). This act was vehemently opposed by the PPP and Nawaz’s PML-N, but Musharraf had enough support in the (post-2002-elections) parliament and senate to get the amendment passed.

When, after the 2008 elections, the majority party (the PPP) was able to form a coalition government at the centre and in the provinces (except in the Punjab), a lot was expected from the new elected regime.

The popular electronic media (much of which squarely reflects and represents the political disposition of the country’s [usually conservative] urban middle-classes), was in the forefront in airing the widespread discontent that the Musharraf dictatorship had started to trigger against itself after 2006.

But the same media suddenly changed gears when PPP Co- Chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, was elected as the country’s new president.

Disaster became the middle word in any discussion and analysis related to the matter. The new president was denounced by ‘analysts’ and the opposition as being ‘power hungry,’ ‘corrupt,’ and out to destroy Pakistan.

No doubt Mr. Zaradri is a controversial figure, but then which prominent politician or for that matter, General isn’t?

His misfortune in this respect was the way he was targeted by the media when he first arrived in the parliament as a minister in his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s first government (1988-90).

An entire generation of military men and politicians had greedily reaped great rewards during the Zia dictatorship (1977-88); a time when the US and Saudi Arabia were lavishly dishing out millions of dollars as direct and indirect aid to keep Zia’s military regime fattened and happy to continue fighting America’s proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

That impacted the overall psyche of the society as well. Exhibitionistic Islamic ritualism and lingo conveniently co-existed (and at times came together) with an overpowering need for greed and a get-rich-quick attitude that contributed in turning Pakistan into one of the most (ideologically and spiritually) confused nations.

This is the Pakistan that Benazir’s first government inherited. Being an astute pragmatist, she understood well the kind of cynicism and materialism that had begun to dot Pakistani politics.

Millions of rupees were being showered by the PML-N and certain remnants of the Zia era (in the intelligence agencies) against her (albeit not very affective) government.

For example, in 1989, industrial tycoons (in league with media bosses and PML-N seths), who still hadn’t forgiven her father for his (disastrous) ‘socialist economic policies’ in the 1970s, began running a paid campaign against the ‘corruption’ of her government and especially that of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari.

[Neo]

For weeks, the country’s mainstream newspapers were dotted with glossy quarter-page ads against the ‘misdeeds’ of the first couple. Then, on the behest of certain intelligence agencies, the opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

Tons of money exchanged hands in the process, as the opposition tried to buy out the ruling members of the parliament and the government retaliated by putting in money and resources to keep them on its side.

Money spoke. In fact it screamed. It became the only valid option for politicians to take part (and survive) in politics. For this each and every prominent politician is guilty. Just like the military men, the bureaucrats and the civilian faces of Zia’s dictatorship who first introduced this trend in the game.

What’s more, also involved is the society at large. For example, when a common man is stopped by a cop for a traffic violation, bribery is not only on the cop’s mind. It is playing on the common citizen’s mind as well; because if the cop does not ask for a bribe and instead begins to book the violator, the violator is most likely to wriggle out of the situation by offering the cop a bribe. However, this man is then also likely to go home and curse corrupt politicians for all the ills plaguing Pakistan.

Such hypocrisy is common in this country. And perhaps to repress it, many of us look for punching bags to vent out our awkward (and guilty?) state of mind.

Thus, though it wont be an overstatement to suggest that almost every prominent politician, military man, industrialist and media boss (ever since the 1980s) has (in one way or the other) been involved in what we generally perceive to be as corruption, it is Asif Ali Zardari who has been bestowed the honour of becoming the punching bag of a highly contradictory society.

It was the media that enacted this bag, and it is the media (especially electronic) that has taken up the glorious task of turning Zardari into a punching bag once again.

If Zardari isn’t a saint, then neither are any of those calling him the devil.

Many of them would turn around and suggest that they are equally against the Sharif brothers. But the truth is, if one really has to make a just and fair sweep of everything and everyone whom we think is or was corrupt, we are bound to also take into account, not only politicians, military men, bureaucrats, cops and judges, but many of our own too, who we see exhibiting so much concern about corruption in drawing rooms and TV studios.

And what to say about Zardari’s most vocal opponents in certain clearly (if not proudly) biased TV channels?

If a thick book can be written on the corruption of our politicians, then one can easily scribble a dark comic book highlighting the shadowy and questionable ways of some of the media bosses and their anchormen whom we see every day contemplating the date of Zardari’s fall.

At times such talk shows start seeming like televised sessions of a whiners’ club, foaming and dining on the latest slice of conspiratorial pizza coming out from the rumour oven in Islamabad.

I won’t be surprised if one of these gentlemen begins to ramble about the presence of flying saucers over the President’s house, operated by evil aliens disguised as Swiss bankers!

But what now?

Against all odds (and rumours), Zardari has actually gotten his name highlighted in the bright sides of the country’s political history, thanks to his role in the passage of the 18th Amendment (that also includes the once impossible task of renaming the NWFP), and in the smooth running of an unprecedented coalition government (of former adversaries).

Something no government ever since Z. A. Bhutto's demise could do (or even imagine to do), has been done by a regime whose main architect is a man most detested by the media.

Fate seems to have rewarded a mixture of luck, rugged pragmatism and patience and rightly decided to bypass television, to give the ‘devil’ his due.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...den-hero-ss-06