Constitution of Pakistan

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, آئین پاکستان  is the supreme law of Pakistan. Known as the Constitution of 1973, it was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and, following additions by the opposition parties, was approved by the legislative assembly on April 10, 1973. It was Pakistan's first ever constitution by consensus unlike two earlier constitutions, the Constitution of 1956 and the Constitution of 1962.
Pakistan's constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government with the President of Pakistan as head of state and a popularly elected Prime Minister as head of government. Pakistan has a bicameral legislature that consists of the Senate (upper house) and the National Assembly (lower house). Together with the President, the Senate and National Assembly make up a body called the Majlis-e-Shoora (Council of Advisors) or Parliament.


Pakistan became independent from British India in 1947, following its partition. The first document that served as a constitution for Pakistan was the Government of India Act, 1935. The first Pakistani Constituent Assembly was elected in 1947 and after nine years adopted the first indigenous constitution, the short-lived Constitution of 1956.
In October 1958, President Iskander Mirza staged a coup d'état and abrogated the constitution. Shortly afterwards General Ayub Khan deposed Iskandar and declared himself president.[3] In 1960 Ayub Khan appointed a commission to draft a new constitution. The new Constitution of 1962 was decreed by President Ayub in March of that year. On 25 March 1969 the Second Martial Law was imposed; President Ayub Khan abrogated the 1962 constitution and handed over power to the Army Commander-in-Chief, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.


After gaining power, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto invited the leaders of the parliamentary parties to meet him on 17 October 1972, which resulted in an agreement known as the 'Constitutional Accord', after an intensive discussion. As per consultations floated by PPP, the National Assembly of Pakistan appointed a committee, of 25 members, on 17 April 1972, to prepare a draft of the permanent Constitution of Pakistan. Mahmud Ali Kasuri was the elected chairman of the Committee. On 20 October 1972, the draft bill for the Constitution of Pakistan was signed by leaders of all parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. A bill to provide a constitution for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was introduced in the Assembly on 2 February 1973. The Assembly passed the bill nearly unanimously on 19 April 1973 and endorsed by the acting President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 12 April 1973. The Constitution came into effect from 14 August 1973. On the same day, Bhutto took over as the Prime Minister and Choudhary Fazal-e-Elahi as the President of Pakistan.


Parliament of Pakistan recently (April 2010) passed the 18th Amendment Bill that guarantees federal parliamentary system and reduced presidential powers. The 18th Amendment makes several fundamental changes to the Constitution including the renaming of the NWFP province to "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa." In addition, through the amendment, any attempt to subvert, abrogate, or suspend the constitution is now defined as an act of high treason.


This constitution represented a compromise consensus on three issues: the role of Islam; the sharing of power between the federal government and the provinces; and the division of responsibilities between the President and the Prime Minister, with a greatly strengthened position for the latter.
The Constitution provided for federal system. The Federal Legislature is to function like the British Parliament. In order to allay fears of the provinces concerning domination of the Centre, the constitution established a bicameral legislature with a Senate (the upper house), providing equal provincial representation, and a National Assembly (the lower house), allocating seats according to population.


The name 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan' is selected for the state of Pakistan.
Islam is declared as the state religion of Pakistan.
Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually or collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam.
Steps shall be taken to make the teaching of the Qur'an and Islamiyat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language and to secure correct and exact printing and publishing of the Qur'an.
Proper organisation of Zakat, waqf and mosques is ensured.
The state shall prevent prostitution, gambling and consumption of alcohol, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements.
Only a Muslim could be qualified for election as President (male or female) and Prime Minister (male or female). No restriction as to religion or gender on any other post, up to and including provincial governor and Chief Minister.
All existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Qur'an and Sunnah and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to such injunctions.
A Council of Islamic Ideology shall be constituted referred to as the Islamic Council. The functions of the Islamic Council shall be to make recommendations to Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies about the ways and means of enabling and encouraging the Muslims of the Pakistan to order their lives in accordance with the principles of Islam.
The President or the Governor of a province may, or if two fifths of its total membership so requires, a House or a Provincial Assembly shall, refer to the Islamic Council for advice on any question as to whether a proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
For the first time, the Constitution of Pakistan gave definition of a Muslim which states: 'Muslim' means a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and does not believe in, or recognise as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed or claims to be a prophet, in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever, after Muhammad.
The state shall endeavor to strengthen the bonds of unity among Muslim countries.
The Second Amendment (wef 17 September 1974) of the 1973 Constitution declared for the first time the Ahmadiyya Community (derogatorily known as Qadianis) or the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam (Lahoris) as non-Muslims, and their leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be prophet of God, to which mainstream Muslims do not agree with.


With regard to provincial rights the 1973 constitution was in fact the most centralised of Pakistan's various constitutions. The Government of India Act of 1935, which Pakistan adopted as its first working constitution, granted the federal government 96 items of power. The 1956 constitution reduced that number to 49, and this was retained in the 1962 constitution. In 1973, however, it was then enlarged to 114.