Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
Encyclopedia
The VIII Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, was short-time amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
, which was passed by the Majlis-e-Shoora
, in the absence of elected Parliament of Pakistan, in 1985. The VIII Amendment was drafted and later enforced by the joint Technocratic-Military government of General Zia-ul-Haq . The VIII Amendment changed Pakistan
's system of government from parliamentary democratic-republic
system
to a semi-presidental system
. The VIII Amendment strengthened the authority of President and also permitted numbers of additional powers to dismiss the elected government of Prime minister. These powers included the right, expressed in sub-section 2(b) inserted into Article 58— the most important part of the Amendment—, to dissolve the National Assembly
(but not the Senate
) if, in his or her opinion, "a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary." (Constitution of Pakistan
, Article 58) with the consequence of dismissing the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
made an extensive use of the VIII Amendment and the Article 58 2(b), which granted the discretionary power to dissolve the National Assembly mentioned in the previous section. President Ghulam Khan overused and abused his powers to dismissed the people elected governments of former Prime ministers
Benazir Bhutto
and Nawaz Sharif
. President Khan first used the VIII Amendment on August 6, 1990 against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on alleged cases of nepotism and the corruption cases. In 1993, President Khan then again used this Amendment to dismiss the people elected government of Prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. In the second instance, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was reinstated as Prime Minister by the Supreme Court, but the resulting stalemate ended with the resignations of both Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Parliament of Pakistan. The use of Article 58 2(b) was almost exclusively justified by the President as necessary, for the removal of corrupt governments that, it was asserted, had lost the confidence of the people. Elections were held each time that caused the ruling party to lose its majority or plurality in the National Assembly. It was again used in 1996 by President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in November 1996.
In 1997, the XIII Amendment (Thirteenth Amendment) to the constitution of Pakistan
was passed, stripping the President of the power to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new elections, effectively reducing the Presidency to a ceremonial figurehead
.
Pakistan's democracy provides no means for the people to directly recall
members of Parliament before the end of their terms. Consequently, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Amendments had the effect of removing the institutional Checks and Balances on the Prime Minister
's power, by giving him or her immunity from being legally dismissed. The power of the President's office was partially restored by the Seventeenth Amendment
. The power to dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss the Prime Minister is now subject to Supreme Court
approval. In 2010, the XVIII (Eighteenth Amendment) to the Constitution of Pakistan
was passed by Parliament of Pakistan reverting the 17th Amendment at an effective and immediate course.
It must also be stated that the Eighth Amendment also caused the elected Parliament to endorse all Orders made by Gen. Zia-ul-Haq by substituting the Article 270A introduced by President's Order No. 14 of 1985 by a slightly modified version, preserving the text declaring the validity of all of Gen. Zia's actions, including his takeover of July 5, 1977 and subsequent constitutional amendments.
It is not clear whether this explicit parliamentary approval was required for Gen. Zia's amendments to obtain legal validity, but it appears that Gen. Zia considered it desirable to obtain this approval and thus chose to compromise by watering down some of the presidential powers his amendments had granted.
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the supreme law of Pakistan. Known as the Constitution of 1973, it was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and, following additions by the opposition parties, was approved by the legislative assembly on April 10, 1973...
, which was passed by the Majlis-e-Shoora
Majlis-e-Shoora
The Parliament of Pakistan, officially termed the Majlis-e-Shoora ; is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature that consists of the Senate and the National Assembly, the upper and lower houses, respectively...
, in the absence of elected Parliament of Pakistan, in 1985. The VIII Amendment was drafted and later enforced by the joint Technocratic-Military government of General Zia-ul-Haq . The VIII Amendment changed Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's system of government from parliamentary democratic-republic
Parliamentary republic
A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government - meaning a system with no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. There are a number of variations of...
system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
to a semi-presidental system
Semi-presidential system
The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state...
. The VIII Amendment strengthened the authority of President and also permitted numbers of additional powers to dismiss the elected government of Prime minister. These powers included the right, expressed in sub-section 2(b) inserted into Article 58— the most important part of the Amendment—, to dissolve the National Assembly
National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...
(but not the Senate
Senate of Pakistan
The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Elections are held every three years for one half of the senate and each senator has a term of six years...
) if, in his or her opinion, "a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary." (Constitution of Pakistan
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the supreme law of Pakistan. Known as the Constitution of 1973, it was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and, following additions by the opposition parties, was approved by the legislative assembly on April 10, 1973...
, Article 58) with the consequence of dismissing the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet.
Text of VIII Amendment (Article 58 2(b)
The Eighth Amendment, besides making a number of other changes to the Constitution, introduced the following clause into Article 58 of the Constitution:Impact on democracy
The VIII Amendment was first used by General Zia-ul-Haq to dismissed the government elected technocrat Prime minister Khan Junejo on alleged corruption cases, though General Zia developed serious matters of authority with the Prime minister who wanted to decreased the authoritative role of General Zia. During the period of 1988 until 1996, PresidentPresident of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan , abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993 and a career statesman from the start to the end of cold war...
made an extensive use of the VIII Amendment and the Article 58 2(b), which granted the discretionary power to dissolve the National Assembly mentioned in the previous section. President Ghulam Khan overused and abused his powers to dismissed the people elected governments of former Prime ministers
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
and Nawaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
. President Khan first used the VIII Amendment on August 6, 1990 against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on alleged cases of nepotism and the corruption cases. In 1993, President Khan then again used this Amendment to dismiss the people elected government of Prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. In the second instance, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was reinstated as Prime Minister by the Supreme Court, but the resulting stalemate ended with the resignations of both Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Parliament of Pakistan. The use of Article 58 2(b) was almost exclusively justified by the President as necessary, for the removal of corrupt governments that, it was asserted, had lost the confidence of the people. Elections were held each time that caused the ruling party to lose its majority or plurality in the National Assembly. It was again used in 1996 by President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in November 1996.
In 1997, the XIII Amendment (Thirteenth Amendment) to the constitution of Pakistan
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
The XIII Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was a short-time amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, adopted by the elected Parliament of Pakistan in 1997 by the government of people elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif...
was passed, stripping the President of the power to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new elections, effectively reducing the Presidency to a ceremonial figurehead
Figurehead
A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...
.
Pakistan's democracy provides no means for the people to directly recall
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
members of Parliament before the end of their terms. Consequently, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution Act, 1997 was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1997, during the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party. It subjected Members of Parliament to very strict party discipline...
Amendments had the effect of removing the institutional Checks and Balances on the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
's power, by giving him or her immunity from being legally dismissed. The power of the President's office was partially restored by the Seventeenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution Act, 2003 was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in December 2003, after over a year of political wrangling between supporters and opponents of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf....
. The power to dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss the Prime Minister is now subject to Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the...
approval. In 2010, the XVIII (Eighteenth Amendment) to the Constitution of Pakistan
Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
Amendment XVIII of the Constitution of Pakistan, was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on April 8, 2010, removing the power of the President of Pakistan to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally, turning Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic, and renaming...
was passed by Parliament of Pakistan reverting the 17th Amendment at an effective and immediate course.
The Eighth Amendment as a compromise
In general discourse, the Eighth Amendment has become synonymous with Article 58 2(b), which in turn is considered to be the provision that introduced the presidential power to dissolve the National Assembly. However, the Eighth Amendment was in fact a compromise between the Parliament elected in the non-party elections of 1985 and then President Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. Prior to the 1985 election, over a period of 6 years, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq had already made numerous amendments to the Constitution of 1973 through various Constitution Amendment Orders, the most significant being the Revival of Constitution of 1973 Order (President's Order No. 14 of 1985). That Order had in fact granted to the President even more discretion in dissolving the National Assembly. Clause (2) added to Article 58 by that Order stated: "The President may also dissolve the National Assembly in his discretion where, in his opinion, an appeal to the electorate is necessary." Note that the test of the constitutional functioning of the government was not required for the President to dissolve the National Assembly.It must also be stated that the Eighth Amendment also caused the elected Parliament to endorse all Orders made by Gen. Zia-ul-Haq by substituting the Article 270A introduced by President's Order No. 14 of 1985 by a slightly modified version, preserving the text declaring the validity of all of Gen. Zia's actions, including his takeover of July 5, 1977 and subsequent constitutional amendments.
It is not clear whether this explicit parliamentary approval was required for Gen. Zia's amendments to obtain legal validity, but it appears that Gen. Zia considered it desirable to obtain this approval and thus chose to compromise by watering down some of the presidential powers his amendments had granted.
See also
- Zia-ul-Haq's IslamizationZia-ul-Haq's IslamizationOn December 2, 1978, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan...
- Separation of powersSeparation of powersThe separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
- Nawaz SharifNawaz SharifMian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
- Benazir BhuttoBenazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
- Pervez MusharrafPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...