Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act, 1985 was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1985. It changed Pakistan's government from a Parliamentary system to a Semi-presidential system by giving the President a number of additional powers. These powers included the right to dissolve the National Assembly (but not the Senate) if, in his 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)

The Eighth Amendment was invoked three times in the 1990s. Its use was justified by the President as necessary, for the removal of corrupt governments that, he 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.

In 1997, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, stripping the President of the power to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new elections, effectively reducing the Presidency to a 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 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.

Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

The Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1997 was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1997 by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It stripped the President of Pakistan of his right or reserve power to dissolve the National Assembly, call for new elections, and dismiss the Prime Minister.

In Pakistan, once legislators are elected to national or provincial assemblies, the people cannot recall them before the end of their five-year terms. In the past, this has contributed to a sense of immunity on the part of members of the ruling party, and to rampant corruption among leading politicians.

The combined effect of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments was to take away institutional Checks and Balances on the Prime Minister's power, giving him immunity from being legally dismissed.

Nawaz Sharif's government became increasingly unpopular after the passage of these amendments, even though it was the election of his Pakistan Muslim League by a heavy majority that enabled him to alter the Constitution in the first place. The storming of the Supreme Court by political-party goons in 1997, and the forced resignation of the Chief Justice, strengthened the perception that the country was becoming a civilian dictatorship.

In 1999, Pervez Musharraf assumed power in a military coup. Among the reasons he gave for doing so were the destruction of institutional checks and balances, and the prevailing corruption in the political leadership. The coup was widely welcomed in Pakistan, and the Supreme Court later validated it on the grounds that a situation had arisen for which the Constitution had no remedy, the Thirteenth Amendment having removed a constitutional means of dismissing an unpopular Prime Minister.

In October 2002, elections were held in Pakistan. In December 2003, Parliament passed the Seventeenth Amendment, which partially restored the reserve power of the Presidency, but made it subject to Supreme Court approval.

Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

The Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) 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.

This amendment made many changes to Pakistan's constitution. Many of these changes dealt with the office of the President and the reversal of the effects of the Thirteenth Amendment. Summarized here are brief descriptions of the major points.

President Musharraf's Legal Framework Order (LFO) was largely incorporated into the constitution, with a few changes.
Article 63(1)(d) of the Constitution to become operative after December 31, 2004. The intent of this was to prohibit a person from holding both a political office (such as that of the President) and an "office of profit" - an office that is typically held by a career government servant, civil or military - such as the office of the Chief of Army Staff. Although this was supposed to separate the two types of office, a loophole - ".. other than an office declared by law .." - allowed Parliament to pass an ordinary law later in 2004 - permitting the President to hold on to the office of Chief of Army Staff, an option that President Musharraf then exercised.
Should the President win a majority in a vote of confidence in the electoral college within 30 days of the passage of this amendment, he shall be deemed to be elected to the office of President. (On January 1, 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 electoral-college votes - a 56% majority - and was thereby deemed to be elected as president.)
The President regains the authority to dissolve the National Assembly - and thus effectively to dismiss the Pakistani Prime Minister - but the power to do so is made subject to an approval or veto by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
A Governor's power to dissolve a Provincial Assembly is similarly subject to Supreme Court approval or veto.
Article 152A, which dealt with the National Security Council, was annulled. (The legal basis for the NSC is now an ordinary law, the National Security Council Act of 2004.)

Ten laws had been added by the LFO to the Sixth Schedule, which is a list of "laws that are not to be altered, repealed or amended without the previous sanction of the President." After this amendment, five of those laws will lose their Sixth Schedule protection after six years. Laws to be unprotected include the four laws that established the system of democratic local governments. (Those in favor of this change have argued that it would enable each province to evolve its own systems. Opponents fear that authoritarian provincial governments could disempower or even dismantle the system of local democracies.)