=> ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf will issue t
ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf will issue three orders on Saturday or Sunday to lift the state of emergency and revive the Constitution, but after making several amendments to the basic document under his special PCO powers.
Highly-placed sources told The News here that the relevant orders had been drafted by legal experts of the law ministry and cleared by the authorities concerned. After further vetting, these would be submitted to the president for his approval.
The first order would pertain to the constitutional amendments which have already been discussed at the highest level and approved by the government’s constitutional experts. The amendments would incorporate the establishment of a federal court in Islamabad to streamline the system pertaining to the superior judiciary.
The president, who has been vested with the authority to amend the Constitution through the proclamation orders issued by the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on Nov 3 and subsequently the authority was transferred to the president, would be issuing such an order for the last time.
The amendment to the Constitution would bring about a change in the basic structure of the document that provides the basis for governing the country and it would affect the judicial system of the country in a big way, sources said. The second order would deal with the revocation of the emergency order of Nov 3, and again it would be promulgated by the president.
The third order will provide the revival of the Constitution that was put in abeyance on Nov 3, but the restoration of the Constitution would come into effect with amendments. With these three orders, the basic human rights will be revived and powers of the judiciary will be restored, the superior judiciary that came into being after the imposition of the emergency rule would stay, replacing the previous set of judges, sources said.
It has been discussed at the political level that the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) of October last would be given protection through fresh legislation and it would get a constitutional cover so that the same could not be challenged in any court of law. This would remove all apprehensions pertaining to the NRO and boost the morale of Benazir Bhutto.
With the issuance of the orders in question, the president will be deprived of his powers to bring about any further changes in the Constitution and he will also lose authority with regard to the administration unless he changes the character of the parliamentary system through another constitutional amendment.
The orders will prove to be yet another watershed in the process of converting Pervez Musharraf into a true civilian head of state. Constitutional experts are of the view that despite claims of the presidential legal advisers, the president will have to indemnify his action through the 18th Amendment to be passed by the next parliament.
In case the amendment that would provide indemnity to the Nov 3 actions of the then Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Pervez Musharraf is not passed, the threat of Article 6 of the Constitution would still be there.
Experts reminded that late President Gen Muhammad Ziaul Haq had to go for the 8th Amendment although his mentors insisted initially that there was no need of having any further amendment to the Constitution after the proclamation of the Revival of Constitution Order (RCO).
Probably, the same mentors are advising the present set of rulers now. Similarly, President Gen Pervez Musharraf had to seek the adoption of the 17th Amendment despite the issuance of the Legal Framework Order (LFO). The Nov 3 orders were the action replay of the Oct 12, 1999 action, they opined.
Observers are of the view that the Pakistan People’s Party would be constrained to play a supporting role in the next parliament for the passage of the 18th Amendment because of its vested interest since this would also pave the way for the validation of the NRO.
The presidential camp has skillfully trapped the PPP for its future political course of action through the proposed amendment and ensured its support in parliament in advance, observers insisted.
Attorney General Justice (retd) Malik Muhammad Qayyum, who is the architect of the revival of the Constitution, was not available for comments on the situation, having left for the Untied Arab Emirates (UAE) recently.
The three orders will bring to an end the 42-day-old extraordinary situation in the country but it would invite an extremely harsh reaction from the bar, former members of the bench, civil society and the political leadership.
Source: The News
Date:12/12/2007
” 
” 
” 
” 
