18th Amendment Archive

18th amendment hearing in SC: Reasons to be recorded later… by pejamistri: Source: Pakistan and Future It was not the prettiest day at Supreme Court yesterday and it was not today either.  As I wrote yesterday that for me the most important reason for CJ to opt out from the bench
Democracy in Pakistan: the chasm – by Haris Gazdar: Source Economic and political weekly (With thanks to reader Hussain Bux Mallah for providing a link to this article) With the passing of the 18th constitutional amendment in April 2010, democratic Pakistan’s journey for political stability came within leaping
News & Views (Daily “Jang”) :By Khalid Wasti: (بحوالہ روزنامہ ” جنگ”) = وزیر اعظم نے اعلی بیوروکریسی کی ترقی کے لیئے مسودہ تیار کرالیا – (ایک خبر) سپریم کورٹ نے اسے مسترد کرنے کے لیئے بڑا بینچ تشکیل دے دیا – = قوم نفاذ قانون میں
From judgment on PCO to case against 18th Amendment – by pejamistri: Last year I was excited about Supreme Court hearing the case against the PCO of November 3rd , and I wrote “Can they cleanse the mess” , it is unfortunate that today I have to write about Supreme Court
Judicial dictators reject objections of federation on the 18th Amendment case: Today the larger bench of Supreme Court rejected federal government’s objections on the 18th amendment case, and issued show cause notices to the lawyer of the federation Dr. Abdul Basit and Advocate on Record. The objections of federation were
Hating Zardari – by Shakir Hussain: Source: The News Whenever people ask me about the funniest Asif Zardari joke I’ve ever heard, my response is always, “That he is the most successful president in the 63 year history of Pakistan.” I can picture readers cringing,
Don’t turn the Objectives Resolution into the Ulterior Objectives Resolution – by Khalid Wasti: ============================ قرار داد مقاصد سے اٹھارویں آئینی ترمیم تک ! ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ایک سفر ، ایک کہانی ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ قرار داد مقاصد کو قرار داد مذموم
Thousands of Pukhtuns celebrate the 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy in Clifton, Karachi: From Ali Abbas Inayatullah’s facebook: While Pakistan’s bourgeouise “intelligensia” often falsely paints the Taliban as being part of “Pushtoon Nationalism”, nothing could be further from the truth! After sacrifizing thousands of lives for opposing the Taliban and loosing scores
From Charter of Democracy to 18th Amendment – by Nazir Leghari: سکہ بند دانشوروں کی پسینے سے شرابور پیشیانیاں….عرض حال…نذیر لغاری 15/ مئی 2006 کو لندن میں پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی اور پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) کے مابین طے پانے والے میثاق جمہوریت میں ججوں کے تقرر کا طریقہ کار اس قدر
Asif Ezdi: Establishment’s latest weapon against politicians and democracy: Asif Ezdi (whose columns appear in notorious Jang Group / The News indeed) has surfaced as the establishment’s latest tool in its war against politicians and democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan Media Watch has written an article on Mr Ezdi,
Constitutional obligations of judiciary — by Mohammad Azhar Siddique: A constitution is the aspirations of the people. It is the experience of the past, the present desires of the nation, and last, but not the least, a hope for the future. A constitution is a document for all
Asif Zardari and ‘concerned’ journalism – by Nadeem Paracha: What to say of an electronic media some of whose channels, for example, decided to place the cosmetic Shoaib-Sania saga at the top of their main 9:00pm news bulletins on the day the 18th Amendment was passed by the
From Presidential Dictatorship of Army Generals to Judicial Dictatorship of Bureaucrats – by Junaid Qaiser: Pakistan was conceived by its founder as a parliamentary democratic country. Political forces in Pakistan have a consensus on the parliamentary form of democracy, which the two constitutions of the country, 1956 and 1973 drafted by the two respective
God, Qazi Anwar and I – by Hakim Hazik: Extraordinary Rendition By: Hakim Hazik Source: Justice Denied We don’t need bread, we need ideology.  We don’t need a country, we need a religion. We don’t want our children to go to school, get qualifications and live in prosperity. We
Q&A about supremacy of parliament or judiciary – by Khalid Wasti: =============================== پارلیمینٹ اور عدلیہ کے حوالے سے سوال و جواب =============================== اٹھارویں ترمیم –  اٹھارہ پوائنٹس (1) ———– سوال : حکمرانی کا حق کس کا ہے ؟ – فوج کا ؟ – بیوروکریسی کا ؟ – سپریم کورٹ کا
Short March to Despotism – by Asad Sayeed: Asad Sayeed’s timely article highlights the dangerous path being currently coursed by the country’s Judiciary where the mandate of 170 million people is not considered more important than the political vendetta of the establishment. Short March to Despotism For
Ansar Abbasi’s investigative journalism and the convicted local spies of the RAW, CIA, FBI and Mossad – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: It pains me to read yet another piece of sensational investigative journalism by Ansar Abbasi that appeared on back page of Daily Jang (25 April 2010)  and The News (24th April, 2010). The sub heading in Jang is mindboggling
Ahsan Iqbal says PML-N will not accept SC judgment: Claims invisible force trying to pit parliament against judiciary; an eye-opening interview with PML-N spokesman By Ahmad Noorani ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has officially stated that the judiciary can lose its respect and its role will become
well done, Ahsan Iqbal and PML-N: PML-N has decided to stand by the parliament rather than supporting the undemocratic judiciary that has already formed a five-member bench to review the 18th amendment petitions. The only way that democracy can survive in Pakistan is for the
The 18th amendment: “A mother can give birth to a child but could not kill the child.” – by Khalid Wasti: Last week, senior lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada (notorious for his affiliation with General Musharraf), while expressing his views in Geo TV Programme, ‘Mery Mutabiq’ of Dr Shahid Masood (notorious for his affiliation with the Taliban), said certain articles of
“Mr Ten Percent” has in fact given “One-Hundred-and-Ten Percent” back to the country – by Tarek Fatah: Giving up power in Pakistan The man lampooned unfairly by the country’s powerful establishment as “Mr Ten Percent” has in fact given “One-Hundred-and-Ten Percent” back to the country Few leaders have emulated Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, who in 1985
What basic structure doctrine – by Feisal Naqvi: Source Monsoon Frog (and also Dawn) The 18th Amendment is less than a few days old and already it is under attack. Several petitions have been filed challenging the new provisions regarding the appointment of judges and more are
President Zardari’s Constitutional Reforms – by Anas Muhammad: Monday April 19, 2010 – President Zardari made history by signing the landmark constitutional reforms amendment bill into law. Zardari – after taking office 18 months ago – pledged to reform the constitution. He promised that all the anomalies that were
Independence of judiciary and supremacy of parliament – by Khalid Wasti: تابوت میں آخری کیل ============ عدلیہ کی آزادی —- پارلیمینٹ کی بالا دستی ========================== کیا آپ کسی معقول انسان کا حوالہ دے سکتے ہیں کہ اس نے پارلیمینٹ کی آزادی اور عدلیہ کی بالا دستی کی بات کی ہو؟
Are the institutions ready to clash? – by Shafqat Mahmood: Reality check Friday, April 23, 2010 The lines are being drawn on the 18th Amendment for the mother of all legal and political battles. Arrayed on one side is the entire political class, reflecting a rare and historic consensus
The Islamofascist mafia in action—again! – by Omar Khattab: Picture: Benazir Bhutto gazes towards a crowd of thousands of supporters at a campaign rally minutes before she was assassinated in a bomb attack December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi The debate on the 18th Amendment is ISI’s smokescreen to
Constitutional amendments can’t be challenged in Supreme Court: Aitzaz Ahsan: Former president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan has said amending the constitution is the right of the parliament and the constitutional amendment can not be challenged in a court. People of Pakistan are currently witnessing
Dr Shahid Masood as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s Jan-Nisar: Dangerous portents – by Kamran Shafi: Dangerous portents I was horrified to see recently a private TV channel advertising one of their talk shows with the blurb ‘Chief teray jan nisar…’ and then the names A.H. Pirzada, Akram Sheikh and one other that I do
Text of President’s Speech (Signing of the 18th Amendment Bill): BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN-IR- RAHIM Signing Ceremony of Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment Bill 19.04.2010 Mr. Prime Minister Speaker National Assembly Chairman Senate Members of Parliament Leaders of Political Parties Excellencies Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen Assalam-o-Alaikum My head bows in gratitude
Madly in hatred for Pakistan’s constitution!: Premature warning Dawn Editorial, 18 Apr, 2010 Taken at face value, the comments made by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Friday simply restate a known legal approach: “Judiciary supervises a regime of the rule of law and not the rule
Unrest among Sindhis on 18th amendment: HYDERABAD: A group of civil society leaders has made quite a critical evaluation of 18th constitutional amendment bill and said that Sindh remained the major loser once again because neither the issue of provincial autonomy nor of natural resources
Accountability of Pakistan’s judiciary – by Saeed Khurshid: Justice begins from me The ‘National Judicial Conference 2010’ – which is in the last day of its session – began with the objective to come up with a plan to make the dispensation of justice possible for all.
Pakistani democracy delivers — by Wajid Shamsul Hasan: Why Pakistan needs strong institutions is amply demonstrated in recent events of monumental importance. However, these events did not get enough attention either because of indifference from analysts or their lack of comprehension about these issues. It is a
Strengths and pitfalls of the 18th Amendment – By Asma Jahangir: Our political leadership must make up its mind: either it commits itself to non-discriminatory policies on minorities or confesses to bigotry., writes Asma Jahangir. The much-awaited constitutional reforms may have sailed through the National Assembly and Senate but there
Religious minorities in Pakistan and a door slammed shut – Kamila Hayat: All of us who have attended school in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan were taught at one point or the other that the white strip that runs down the flag stood for non-Muslims who make up an estimated three
Parliamentary Theocracy – By Yasser Latif Hamdani: Source Daily Times The 18th Amendment reintroduces the requirement for the prime minister of the country to be a Muslim. Pakistan’s slide down the slippery pole of religiosity is quite clear Frederick Douglass — the great 18th century American
Sick and Tired! – by Agha Haider Raza: Over the past week Pakistan has read many different news items. From the passing of the 18th amendment to the bomb blast at the US Consulate, much is happening. Some may say the stories are for the betterment of
Ansar Abbasi Out LBW (Learn Before Writing!): Thanks: Pakistan Media Watch Poor Mr. Ansar Abbasi – he does not know how to quit while he is ahead. After his very poor showing on Friday, Mr. Abbasi has decided to have another go at writing his “news analysis”
Aik Zardari, Sab Per Bhari – by Abdul Qadir Hassan: Here is is a very interesting article by veteran right wing journalist Abdul Qadir Hassan (who is indeed not a proponent of the PPP or Zardari) in appreciation of President Asif Ali Zardari. AQ Hassan acknowledges that Zardari is
Presence of Mehmood Khan Achakzai in the Presidential Address: It was really heartening to see Mehmood Khan Achkzai sitting in VIP gallery of the parliament listening to the Presidential address. Although his party  boycotted 2008 general election but his  senators were a part of the Constitutional reforms committee.