Constitution Of Pakistan Essay

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Preparation of a constitution for the country was the first achievement of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s after coming into power . The most prominent characteristic of this Constitution was that it accommodated proposals from the opposition parties and hence it is accepted by almost all the major political parties of the country.10th april 1973 was the date when The National Assembly approved the 1973 Constitution, and it came into effect on August 14. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto become the Prime Minister of Pakistan from this date and Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was appointed as the President of Pakistan.

The Constitution of 1973 opens with a Preamble. This is the constitution’s preliminary part in which broad features of the Constitution have been explained. The first Article declares Pakistan as Federal Republic to be known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Islam was declared as the State religion of Pakistan. Pakistan was to be a Federation of four federating Units, Punjab, Sindh, N. W. F. P. and Baluchistan.

The Constitution’s nature was parliamentary . Article 41 of the Constitution lay down that the President was to be the Head of the State. The President was to be a Muslim above 45 years of age and was to be elected by a joint sitting of members of the Parliament for 5 years. He could be re-elected but could not hold office for more than two terms. The President was to act on the advice of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The President could be removed on the grounds of physical or mental incapacity or impeached on charges of violating the Constitution or gross misconduct. The President was authorized to appoint the Attorney General, Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, and the Chief Election Commissioners. In the Pr...

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...Islam. The Islamic Advisory Council was made to recommend ways and means to make existing laws of the country in conformity with the Islamic principles.

The Constitution of 1973 remained in force to nearly four years. It was, however, suspended by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who imposed Martial Law in the country on July 5, 1979. However, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq who ran the country with Martial Law passed the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution in 1985. This Amendment empowered the President to dissolve the National Assembly under Article 58(2) b. This Article was later repealed by the Parliament during Nawaz Sharif's era by Thirteenth Amendment introduced on April 1, 1997. The Thirteenth Amendment was in turn repealed by the Legal Frame work Order of 2002, which effectively restored the discretionary powers of the President enacted by the Eighth Amendment.

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