->Masterpha: 'short-time' implies that the intention of the amendment was to be time limited. this is not the case.

2021-11-26T18:20:14Z

'short-time' implies that the intention of the amendment was to be time limited. this is not the case.

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'''{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2019}}'''{{Short description|1997 amendment in Pakistan}}
'''The''' '''Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan''' ([[Urdu language|Urdu]]: آئین پاکستان میں تیرہویں ترمیم) was a short-lived amendment to the [[Constitution of Pakistan]], adopted by the [[Parliament of Pakistan]] in 1997 by the civillian government of [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] [[Nawaz Sharif]]. It stripped the [[President of Pakistan]] of his [[reserve power]] to dissolve the [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]], and thereby triggering new elections and dismissing the Prime Minister. The Constitutional Amendment was supported by both the government and the opposition, and was thus passed unanimously. With the enforcing of this amendment, Pakistan's system of government was shifted from [[Semi-presidential system]] to Parliamentary democratic republic system.

The amendment removed Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution, which gave the President the power to
:''dissolve the National Assembly in his discretion where, 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.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part3.ch2.html|title=Chapter 2: "Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)" of Part III: "The Federation of Pakistan"|website=www.pakistani.org|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>

In Pakistan, once legislators are elected to national or provincial assemblies, the people cannot [[Recall election|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 a public perception of rampant [[Political corruption|corruption]] among leading politicians – in 1997, Pakistan received the second-worst score in the world on [[Transparency International]]'s [[Corruption Perceptions Index]].

A few months later, the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fourteenth Amendment]] was passed, which subjected Members of Parliament to very strict [[party discipline]] by giving party leaders unlimited power to dismiss legislators who failed to vote as directed. This virtually eliminated any chance of a Prime Minister of being thrown out of office by a [[motion of no confidence]]. The amendments removed nearly all institutional [[checks and balances]] on the Prime Minister's power, by effectively removing the legal remedies by which he could be 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. A few months later, Nawaz Sharif's partisan stormed the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan]] and forced the resignation of the [[Chief Justice of Pakistan|Chief Justice]]. This strengthened the perception that the country was becoming a civilian dictatorship.

In 1999, the Pakistan Army General [[Pervez Musharraf]] assumed power in a military-led bloodless 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. Amongst the Opposition, ex-Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]] was one of the first leaders to congratulate General Pervez Musharraf for removing Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court later validated the removal on the grounds that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments resulted in a situation for which there was no constitutional remedy.

In October 2002, elections were held in Pakistan. In December 2003, [[Parliament of Pakistan|Parliament]] passed the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Seventeenth Amendment]], which partially restored the President's reserve power to dissolve Parliament and thus remove the Prime Minister from office, but made it subject to Supreme Court approval.

{{Constitution of Pakistan}}

==External links==
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/amendments/13amendment.html Text of Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan]
[[Category:Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan|13]]

[[Category:1997 in law]]
[[Category:Nawaz Sharif administration]]

Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan - Revision history

->Masterpha: 'short-time' implies that the intention of the amendment was to be time limited. this is not the case.