17th amendment and promise of Asif Ali Zardari
 

Introdution:

By means of 17th amendment the former president Pervez Musharaf snached for himself all the powers with the inevitable consequences that the office of Prime Minister was infact reduce to a mere ceremonial position while the paliament was literally transformed into a rubber stamp.

we can say that 17th amendment is the unchecked powers of president through which he can dissolve popularly elected National Assembly out of his own sweet will by giving any reason or pretext.

Major CHanges Brought By 17th amendment:

following are the major changes brought by 17th amendment in the constitution regarding the position of president.

1; parliament and provincial asseblies individually or jointly may not later than 30 days from commencement of the constitutional 17th amndment Act 2003 move a resolution for vote of confidence for further affirmation of the president in office by by majority of members present and voting and if the vote of confidence having been passed the president shall be deemed to be eleted to hold office for a term of 5 years under the constitution and the same shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.

2; 58(2b) is the discretionary powers of president to dissolve the national assembly without the advise and consultation of prime minister.
By 17th amendment a new clause 3 is added to article 58 under which the president in case of dissolution of the national assembly under (artice 58 paragraph b clause 2) shall within 15 days of dissolution refer to supreme court shall decide the reference within 30 days whose dicision shall be final.

PPPP's Promise To Repeal 17th Amendment And 58 (2b)

By means of Charter Of Democracy Benazir and Nawaz sharif promised to repeal 17th amndment and 58(2b) in order to setup a truely parliamentary form of govt as provided by original 1973 constitution.

a similar promise made by President Asif Ali Zardari on several occasions during and after 18 feb elections.But as soon as he captured the seat of president he was engulfed by intoxicating desire of attaining absolute powers with the obvious results that even after passing several months no amendment has been made to remove the amndment clauses which r contrary to the parliamentary spirit.Instead he following the footsteps of former dictator.

Repeal of 17th amendment necessary for parliametary spirit of
constitution:

All the parties should work for the elimination of 17th amendment and the prime minister should b made strong instead of president if we want a parliamentary system in pakistan.And the future of our country also lies in democracy and parliamentary system.

I hope from political leadership in Pakistan to lead the nation as a national leader and i hope from president Asif Ali Zardari to perform all the promises which he made to the people of Pakistan .