Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

This article is part of a series about Nawaz Sharif
Early life Political career Electoral history Political views Foreign policy Vision 2025 Parties Pakistan Muslim League Islami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan Muslim League (N) Elections 1988 1990 1993 1997 2013 Chief Minister of Punjab First provincial cabinet Second provincial cabinet Prime Minister of Pakistan First ministry and term First government Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan XII Privatisation in Pakistan Operation Clean-up Kashmir Solidarity Day Second ministry and term Second government Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan XIII XIV XVI Storming of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Building Resignation of Jehangir Karamat Nuclear Tests Chagai-I Chagai-II Lahore Declaration Delhi–Lahore Bus Youm-e-Takbir Kargil War 1999 Pakistani coup d'état Third ministry and term Third cabinet International trips Civil–military ties 2014 protests Prime Minister's Youth Programme Prime Minister's Fee Reimbursement Scheme Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme Turkey-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement South Korea-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Operation Zarb-e-Azb National Action Plan (Pakistan) Panama Papers case Gallery: picture, sound, video
v t e

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (

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.^[1]

In Pakistan, once legislators are elected to national or provincial assemblies, the people cannot 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 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

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. 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 passed the 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.

External links

• Text of Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan