The promulgation of Martial Law on 7 October, , led to the abrogation of the Constitution. In February the military government appointed a Constitution Commission which framed the constitution that provided for a presidential form of government; which was once again abrogated on 25 March, The Civil Government, which came to power in December , formulated an interim Constitution in with the help of a member committee appointed by the National Assembly of Pakistan that prepared a draft of the permanent constitution.
The team was headed by Mahmud Ali Kasuri. The draft bill for the constitution was signed by leaders of all parliamentary groups in the National Assembly on October 20, A bill to provide a constitution for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was introduced in the assembly on February 2, , which was passed on 12 April, and promulgated on 14 August, The President is the head of state, represents the unity of the republic and is elected by a simple majority of an electoral college consisting of members of the two houses of federal legislature and of the four provincial legislatures.
The President can be removed if he or she is found unfit to hold office due to physical incapacity or impeached in case of violation of the constitution in a joint sitting of the federal houses by votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership. The Prime Minister is elected by members of the lower house of the federal legislature after every general election, and other cabinet ministers are appointed by the President according to the advice of the Prime Ministers.
The executive authority of the federal government is exercised in the name of the President by the Prime Minister, or through him, by the federal ministers. The federal cabinet under the Prime Minister aids and advises the President in the exercise of her or his functions. However, in the performance of her or his functions, the President is to act on and in accordance with the advice of the cabinet or the Prime Minister, except in cases where the constitution has vested the President with discretionary powers.
The Prime Minister is to keep the President informed about all matters of internal or foreign policy, and all legislative proposals the federal cabinet intends to bring before parliament.
The President may not remove the Prime Minister unless the President is satisfied that he or she has lost the confidence of the majority in the lower house. For that purpose, the President has to summon a meeting of the lower house and require the Prime Minister to obtain a vote of confidence. The Prime Minister could also be removed on the initiative of the lower house when the house passes a vote of no-confidence against her or him. The federal cabinet is collectively responsible to both houses of parliament.
The President can summon, prorogue, address and send messages to either house of the federal legislature, separately or jointly.
The President also has the power of dissolving the lower house of the federal legislature either on the advice of the Prime Minister or on her or his own initiative if the house passes a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister and there is no other member who commands the support of the majority in the house. The President assents to bills passed by the federal legislature within 10 days.
He or she may return a bill to the legislature with a message that the whole or any part of the bill be reconsidered and any amendment proposed by her or him, in which case the bill will be reconsidered by the joint sitting of the legislature and if passed by majority votes, it is sent to the President for assent.
The President will then give assent to the bill within 10 days or the bill will automatically become a law. Parliament, the federal bicameral legislature, consists of the President, the lower house National Assembly and upper house Senate.
The Assembly is elected for five years unless the President dissolves it sooner. The Senate has a total of seats with each of the four provinces having 23 seats 14 general, four women, four technocrats, and one non-Muslim minority seat in each province , thus giving equal representation to each province, eight seats for the FATA, and four seats for the Federal Capital, including two general, one woman and one technocrat seat.
Elections to fill seats in the Senate allocated to each province are held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote by the provincial legislative assemblies.
The Senate has a term of six years, and is not subject to dissolution. Except money bills, both houses of the federal legislature have equal powers in all legislative subjects under federal jurisdiction. A non-money bill can originate in any of the two houses and in case of disagreement between the two houses, it has to be considered in a joint sitting, and if passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting, it is presented to the President for assent.
A money bill can only originate in and be approved by the National Assembly. The Senate can make recommendations on a money bill, which the National Assembly may or may not adopt. Thus, passing a money bill is the exclusive domain of the National Assembly. For any bill to become a law, the assent of the President is mandatory. When a bill is presented, the President must either assent to the bill within 10 days or may, if it is not a money bill, return it to a joint sitting of the parliament with a message to reconsider the bill or any part of it.
Once a simple majority of the joint sitting of parliament approves the bill after such reconsideration, it becomes a law, whether or not the President signs the bill. The constitution provides for the federal legislative list with 71 subjects and the provincial legislatures have exclusive powers of law making on subjects not enumerated in the federal legislative list.
A provincial assembly may voluntarily delegate to the federal legislature the power of law making on subjects on which it is competent to make laws. The executive authority of federal and provincial government extends to matters on which the federal and provincial legislatures respectively have the powers of law-making. The constitution provides for a hierarchy of the judicial branch with the Supreme Court of Pakistan on top and five High Courts subordinate to it, each working in the four provinces and the federal capital.
Lower courts in each province are under the administrative control of their respective high courts. In addition to being appellate courts in civil and criminal cases, the Supreme Court and the High Courts have original constitutional jurisdiction in certain cases.
As a federal court, the Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute between and amongst the federal and provincial governments. The constitution also provides for a Federal Shariat Court and vests it with the universal jurisdiction to examine and decide the question whether or not any law or provision of law is repugnant to the Injunctions of Islam. August The Objective Resolution - the first document of constitutional nature — introduced and adopted by the first Constituent Assembly amid opposition from the Pakistan National Congress, the only opposition party consisting of Hindu minority from East Pakistan.
March The Objective Resolution — the first document of constitutional nature — introduced and adopted by the first Constituent Assembly amid opposition from the Pakistan National Congress, the only opposition party consisting of Hindu minority from East Pakistan.
September Interim Report of the Basic Principle Committee introduced in the Constituent Assembly, but due to public opposition from Bengal and Punjab on the federal formula, debate on the report postponed. December Basic Principle Committee Report is introduced in the assembly for discussion.
Report of the Basic Principle Committee is adopted as the draft constitution. October June One-Unit constituted, combining the four provinces and ten princely states of West Pakistan. February General Ayub Khan takes over the reins of power. General Ayub Khan promulgates the Constitution through an executive order. General Ayub Khan steps down and hands over the reins of power to his successor General Muhammad Yahya Khan who imposes second martial law in the country.
One-Unit is dismantled and Legal Framework Order is issued to serve as the interim constitution. For the first ten years, five additional seats were reserved for women for each wing. National Assembly was to meet at least twice a year with at least one session at Dhaka. The Constitution offered direct elections under adult franchise.
Every citizen of Pakistan with minimum age of 21 was allowed to vote in the elections. The Constitution provided for federal form of government in the country. The provincial structure was similar to the one in the center. The pattern for the center-province relations was the same as it was in the Government of India Act, There were federal, provincial and concurrent lists of subjects.
There were 30 items in the federal list, 94 items in the provincial list and 19 items in the concurrent list. The federal legislation was to get precedence over provincial legislation regarding the concurrent list. Residuary powers were vested in the provinces. In case of a conflict between center and provinces or between the two provinces, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was to act as the mediator.
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