The 18th Amendment in the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan

The 18th Amendment in the 1973 Constitution

[Fakhr-ul-Islam]

Keywords: Constitution, Amendment, Parliamentary, Pakistan

An Eventful Year: A Prelude to Unanimous Amendment

The year 2007 proved to be decisive in shaping up political and

constitutional contours in Pakistan. Musharraf’s clash with judiciary,

assassination of Benazir Bhutto and atmosphere of political conciliation

in the parliament after 2008 election, paved the way for unanimity on

18th Constitutional Amendment.

Like other dictators, General Pervez Musharraf was scared of

judiciary. He wanted to tame it so that he could smoothly implement his

agenda. Apart from removing judges of superior courts on the pretext of

not taking oath under his Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), he

changed eight chief justices during 1999-2007.1 Nevertheless Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a hard nut, refused to give in. Justice

Iftikhar had taken many sensitive cases for hearing in the Supreme Court.

They included Missing Persons Case, Privatization of Karachi Steel

Mills case and Construction of Golf Course at a children Park in

Islamabad. On the question of missing persons there had been an

unpleasant meeting between Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and

Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).2 After passing orders

by the Chief Justice in the above mentioned cases, the patience of

military dictator came to its brim. Moreover, Musharraf planned to

contest election for the post of president, despite retaining army slot, and

he feared that if that was challenged in Supreme Court, Chief Justice

might disqualify him.3

Accordingly Musharraf called Justice Iftikhar Muhammad

Chaudhry to army headquarter in Rawalpindi on 9th March 2007 and in

the presence of top army brass, asked him to tender resignation. To their

surprise, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry flatly refused to oblige,

resultantly he was ordered not to move. He was kept in custody till

another senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal was

appointed a new Chief Justice.4 The ill-treatment meted out to Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resulted in wide spread protest

demonstrations from legal fraternity all over Pakistan. The moment was

given the title of Adliya Bachao Tehreek (Movement for protection of

Judiciary). The movement had two goals: (i) reinstatement of Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (ii) restoration of independence of the

judiciary.5 The lawyers’ movement continued till restoration of Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other senior judges.

Benazir Bhutto returned in the midst of lawyers’ movement

after her self-imposed exile in October 2007. Her return added charge to

political atmosphere in Pakistan. However, she was murdered in a bomb

blast in Rawalpindi on 27th December 2007. People’s Party supporters in

Pakistan, in general, and in Sindh , in particular, strongly reacted to her

assassination. Farahnaz Isfahani wrote that the Banazir’s murder “has

unleashed a wave of emotion throughout the country” The violent PPP

workers inflicted heavy damages on public properties.6 However, both,

Asif Ali Zardari( her husband) and son Bilawal Zardari tried to cool

down the wide spread demonstrations. On his party website, Bilawal

wrote:

“For those in my country who would find it easier to walk away from

democracy and seek revenge through violence, I urge you to remember

my mother's words: democracy is the sweetest revenge. To plunge the

country into more violence and chaos, would only play into the hands

of those who hope for democracy's failure. The terrorists have no use

for democracy, and the current government fears it. We must unite and

rise above both”7

Cashing on post-assassination emotions and sympathies, PPP bagged 124

seats in the house 342, emerging biggest party but still away from simple

majority. She had to rely on coalition partners to form governments in

centre and provinces. The following table shows results of February

2008 election: