Is the 18th amendment being abolished?
Sometimes in March 2018, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bazwa (Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army since 29 November 2016) said that the 18th Amendment presents a serious problem bigger than the six points of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, and deserve some reflection. The remarks were never officially disowned by the army itself, attesting to their authenticity.
And when after the election, under the leadership of Imran Khan in Pakistan, there was a new government sworn in, which was clearly the result of the support of the army, the fear started to become intensified that the 18th Amendment could be abolished.
At the same time, there has been an opposition to any such proceeding in which the most vocal Pakistan People's Party, in whose regime the amendment was passed in 2010. The PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari asserted last week that he was being targeted simply because of his opposition to the roll back of the 18th Amendment that had addressed the political and economic alienations of the federating units to a large extent at the expense of the centripetal forces. The former Senate chairman and PPP senior leader Mian Raza Rabbani has warned of serious repercussions if the 18th Constitutional Amendment is rolled back and this will be unacceptable to the federation of Pakistan. He lamented that whosoever advocated the cause of provincial autonomy is branded as a traitor. He said the entire political history of the country is witness to the fact that the establishment and the bureaucracy have never recognized the provincial autonomy. For this cause, politicians were used as a tool by the establishment while the judiciary was also manipulated for the same reason.
However Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Sindh General Secretary and Parliamentary Leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on said that the 18th amendment was passed to strengthen the provinces and not to strengthen the corruption mafia and hide their crimes.
Background
The 1999 Pakistani coup d'état in which the Pakistan Army and then-Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Pervez Musharraf, seized the control of the civilian government of publicly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 12 October 1999. To tighten his grip on power, constitution of Pakistan was amended through the 17 amendment act in December 2003. The amendment enhanced the powers of president (and governors) and the Legal Framework Order (2002) was incorporated in the constitution. The exiled opposition leaders (Benazir and Nawaz) signed Charter of Democracy (London, 2006) that pledged the restoration of the constitution in its original form. The same was reasserted by the All Parties Conference (London, 2007), attended by the representative of 37 opposition political parties. Its declaration opposed the Musharaf’s regime. And after election in 2008 Pakistan peoples Party was came into power , a Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reforms under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani was established in 2009. The 27-member committee was composed of all the representative of Parliamentary political parties, and the committee reached to its conclusion that the most important requirement of this time is to undo the 17th Amendment Act; to enhance federalism; and parliamentary structure of the constitution.
Important provisions by 18th amendment
By this amendment 102 amendments were introduced into the constitution, like the name of the former president of Pakistan, Gen Zia, has been removed from the text of Constitution, North-West Frontier Province has been renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the 17th Amendment and Legal Framework Order as introduced by Musharraf has been repealed, the ban on third time prime ministership and chief ministership has been lifted, holding constitution in abeyance is tantamount to high treason, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) has been reconstituted with the prime minister as its chairperson and the body should meet at least once in 90 days, a judicial commission will recommend the appointment procedure of superior judges and the final names of judges will be decided by parliamentary commission, a Chief Election Commissioner will be appointed through consensus between treasury and opposition, establishment of Islamabad high court and benches of high courts in Mingora and Turbat and recognition of the children's right to education and insertion of a new section under Article 25A to provide constitutional guarantee that state will provide free and compulsory education to all girls and boys up to age 16.
18 amendment and provincial autonomy
Most important feature of 18th amendment is the 18th amendment eliminates the “Concurrent List,” i.e. the enumeration of areas where both federal and provincial governments may legislate but federal law prevails. Laws governing marriage, contracts, firearms possession, labor, educational curriculums, environmental pollution, bankruptcy, and in 40 other diverse areas the provinces would have exclusive jurisdiction and each provincial assembly will be responsible for drafting its own laws on the issues. The 18th constitutional Amendment potentially impacts the mandate of several Federal Ministries and by implication increases the roles and responsibilities of the related institutions and administrative structures at the provincial level.
Another important but under-reported change now specifies that future National Finance Commission agreements—which set the distribution of national revenues between the central government and the provinces—cannot reduce the provinces’ share beyond that given in the previous agreement (Article 160). Provincial governments also now have greater authority to raise domestic and international loans and give guarantees on the security of Provincial Consolidated Fund. (Source: United Nations Development Programme)
The 18th amendment does not fix all of Pakistan’s political problems. For one thing, the civilian government continues to hold limited powers of real oversight on the budgets or policies of the military, which retains a firm grasp on the country’s foreign and security policy and a large political and economic presence domestically.
Conclusion
The amendment constitutes one of the most dramatic deconcentrations of power in Pakistan since the drafting of its 1973 constitution and reverses President Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to centralize power in the indirectly elected office of the presidency. It gives the parliament, prime minister, judiciary, and the provincial governments greater autonomy under the constitution.
The incumbent government has though meekly rejected the perception of its being hands in gloves with the forces those have been manipulating to undo the above referred constitutional amendment to promote their own parochial interests.
But the proximity of the army and Imran Khan is beyond suspicion and it is not a matter of any surprise that a secret agreement exists on any of these issues, which can be the main factor of Imran Khan's electoral success. In such a situation, decentralization of power, which can not be considered an appropriate situation from the military's perspective, as well as the presence of these provisions is certainly not suitable for a centralized military dictatorship.
This amendment is a great obstacle for the Army and political parties acting as agents of Armed Establishment. Military’s role in Pakistan’s government has been very effective since partition, and for a long time military dictator has been here on power. And even when they were not directly in the power, their influence has been on the government. And the discussion of abolishing the 18th amendment which is a part of the “Bazwa doctrine” can be the exercise of being directly involved in power or in more clear words “attempt to occupy the power” again.