Transparency in Senate polls: PM to drum up support for 22nd amendment
Bill seeks to amend Articles 59 (1), 63(A) and 226 of the Constitution
Bill seeks to amend Articles 59 (1), 63(A) and 226 of the Constitution.
ISLAMABAD:
Mainstream political parties appear to be amenable to a government proposal for changing the voting procedure for the Senate elections to preclude political ‘horse-trading’, but some parties remain noncommittal on supporting the move. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will host heads of political parties in a few days to seek support for a proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill aimed at making election for the upper house of parliament transparent.
The ruling PML-N said on Monday that it would introduce, no doubt after conferring with all political parties, a constitutional amendment to conduct the March 5 elections for the upper house of parliament through ‘show of hands’ instead of ‘secret balloting’. The party won a rare praise from PTI chairman Imran Khan for the proposal which was also welcomed by PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari who proposed the government convene an all parties’ conference to debate the issue.
On Wednesday, the prime minister spent a busy day, conferring with members of the two committees he had formed on February 23 to finalise the proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill and devise a strategy on how to win over other political parties in the parliament.
He directed the committees to take the draft bill to other political parties and seek their input, sources told The Express Tribune. “The prime minister is likely to host heads of political leaders either on Friday or Saturday to seek their support for the proposed constitutional amendment,” one source said.
An official statement issued from the Prime Minister House confirmed that he himself would contact heads of political parties in coming days. It added that the members of the two committees updated the premier on the contacts they had with key politicians thus far. Premier Nawaz asked them to speed up their contacts so that procedures necessary for stopping political ‘horse-trading’ could be agreed upon before the upcoming Senate elections.
Attendees at the meeting included Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan and Special Assistants to PM Khawaja Zaheer Ahmad and Barrister Zafarullah Khan.
22nd constitutional amendment bill
Khawaja Zaheer and Barrister Zafarullah drafted the 22nd constitutional bill which has been shared with other political parties for their input. The bill suggests amendments in Articles 59 (1), 63(A) and 226 of the Constitution to not only make the Senate elections transparent but also to remove anomalies, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune. They added that the prime minister wanted to evolve consensus among political parties for reintroducing the pre-1977 Senate elections procedure and to remove all amendments made to the Constitution either through the 8th constitutional amendment in 1985 or through the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002.
Article 59
The bill seeks to amend Article 59 of the Constitution which states that “104 senators will be elected” to replace the word ‘elected’ with ‘chosen’. According to the prime minister’s legal wizards, before the 8th constitutional amendment the Senate elections had been held in 1973, 1976 and 1977 on that basis.
They say Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution still state ‘elected or chosen’ which is an anomaly that was never removed. They believe that election to the upper house of parliament is indirect which means the senators are ‘chosen’ and not ‘elected’.
De-seating rebellious MPs
The 22nd constitutional amendment bill proposes that ‘Article 63(A) Disqualification on Grounds of Defection, etc’ shall also cover the Senate elections. Article 63(A) states that an MP will stand disqualified if he/she: (a) resigns from membership of his political party or joins another Parliamentary Party; or (b) votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, in relation to¬: (i) election of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister; or (ii) a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or (iii) a Money Bill or a Constitution (Amendment) Bill.
Open balloting
‘Article 226: Elections by Secret Ballot’ states, “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the prime minister and the chief minister, shall be by secret ballot.” The proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill seeks to exempt the Senate elections from Article 226 because they are indirect and come under the category of ‘chosen’.
The Senate elections rules will elaborate that each voter will cast his/her vote openly as his/her name will be mentioned on the ballot paper and he/she will tick and mention his/her priorities before the Election Commission staff at his/her respective house.
FATA MPs
According to the premier’s legal wizards, the current system of the Senate election for eight seats reserved for Fata’s total 12 MNAs is a clear violation of the spirit of the Constitution. Article 59 states that election to fill seats in the Senate allocated to each province shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
Currently, there are 11 MNAs from Fata (one is dead). And each of them has four votes for electing one Senate candidate as four seats are up for grab. Each Fata MNA has eight votes for eight seats of the Senate which is an injustice to the lawmakers from other parts of the country who have only one vote, according to the PM’s legal team.
Of the 11 Fata MNAs, six have formed a group and are wheeling and dealing to elect four senators through their collective 24 votes, while the rest of five MNAs have become irrelevant. The proposed 22nd constitutional amendment seeks to withdraw all extra powers granted to the Fata MNAs by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. The bill proposes that each Fata MNA cast one vote before the speaker or the election commissioner in National Assembly through open balloting.
Sources said that the Election Commission of Pakistan had approved the proposed changes in the Senate election procedure in the first week of February.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2015.
Mainstream political parties appear to be amenable to a government proposal for changing the voting procedure for the Senate elections to preclude political ‘horse-trading’, but some parties remain noncommittal on supporting the move. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will host heads of political parties in a few days to seek support for a proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill aimed at making election for the upper house of parliament transparent.
The ruling PML-N said on Monday that it would introduce, no doubt after conferring with all political parties, a constitutional amendment to conduct the March 5 elections for the upper house of parliament through ‘show of hands’ instead of ‘secret balloting’. The party won a rare praise from PTI chairman Imran Khan for the proposal which was also welcomed by PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari who proposed the government convene an all parties’ conference to debate the issue.
On Wednesday, the prime minister spent a busy day, conferring with members of the two committees he had formed on February 23 to finalise the proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill and devise a strategy on how to win over other political parties in the parliament.
He directed the committees to take the draft bill to other political parties and seek their input, sources told The Express Tribune. “The prime minister is likely to host heads of political leaders either on Friday or Saturday to seek their support for the proposed constitutional amendment,” one source said.
An official statement issued from the Prime Minister House confirmed that he himself would contact heads of political parties in coming days. It added that the members of the two committees updated the premier on the contacts they had with key politicians thus far. Premier Nawaz asked them to speed up their contacts so that procedures necessary for stopping political ‘horse-trading’ could be agreed upon before the upcoming Senate elections.
Attendees at the meeting included Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan and Special Assistants to PM Khawaja Zaheer Ahmad and Barrister Zafarullah Khan.
22nd constitutional amendment bill
Khawaja Zaheer and Barrister Zafarullah drafted the 22nd constitutional bill which has been shared with other political parties for their input. The bill suggests amendments in Articles 59 (1), 63(A) and 226 of the Constitution to not only make the Senate elections transparent but also to remove anomalies, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune. They added that the prime minister wanted to evolve consensus among political parties for reintroducing the pre-1977 Senate elections procedure and to remove all amendments made to the Constitution either through the 8th constitutional amendment in 1985 or through the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002.
Article 59
The bill seeks to amend Article 59 of the Constitution which states that “104 senators will be elected” to replace the word ‘elected’ with ‘chosen’. According to the prime minister’s legal wizards, before the 8th constitutional amendment the Senate elections had been held in 1973, 1976 and 1977 on that basis.
They say Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution still state ‘elected or chosen’ which is an anomaly that was never removed. They believe that election to the upper house of parliament is indirect which means the senators are ‘chosen’ and not ‘elected’.
De-seating rebellious MPs
The 22nd constitutional amendment bill proposes that ‘Article 63(A) Disqualification on Grounds of Defection, etc’ shall also cover the Senate elections. Article 63(A) states that an MP will stand disqualified if he/she: (a) resigns from membership of his political party or joins another Parliamentary Party; or (b) votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, in relation to¬: (i) election of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister; or (ii) a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or (iii) a Money Bill or a Constitution (Amendment) Bill.
Open balloting
‘Article 226: Elections by Secret Ballot’ states, “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the prime minister and the chief minister, shall be by secret ballot.” The proposed 22nd constitutional amendment bill seeks to exempt the Senate elections from Article 226 because they are indirect and come under the category of ‘chosen’.
The Senate elections rules will elaborate that each voter will cast his/her vote openly as his/her name will be mentioned on the ballot paper and he/she will tick and mention his/her priorities before the Election Commission staff at his/her respective house.
FATA MPs
According to the premier’s legal wizards, the current system of the Senate election for eight seats reserved for Fata’s total 12 MNAs is a clear violation of the spirit of the Constitution. Article 59 states that election to fill seats in the Senate allocated to each province shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
Currently, there are 11 MNAs from Fata (one is dead). And each of them has four votes for electing one Senate candidate as four seats are up for grab. Each Fata MNA has eight votes for eight seats of the Senate which is an injustice to the lawmakers from other parts of the country who have only one vote, according to the PM’s legal team.
Of the 11 Fata MNAs, six have formed a group and are wheeling and dealing to elect four senators through their collective 24 votes, while the rest of five MNAs have become irrelevant. The proposed 22nd constitutional amendment seeks to withdraw all extra powers granted to the Fata MNAs by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. The bill proposes that each Fata MNA cast one vote before the speaker or the election commissioner in National Assembly through open balloting.
Sources said that the Election Commission of Pakistan had approved the proposed changes in the Senate election procedure in the first week of February.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2015.