Constitutional Amendments in 1973 Constitution

The amendment to Article 214 specifies that a member of the Commission shall make their oath before the Commissioner [54].

Article 226 was amended to state that all elections under the Constitution other than those of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister shall be by secret ballot [55, 56].

The Governor appoints the caretaker CM in consultation with the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Provincial Assembly [57].

The Committee for the provincial level comprises six members of the outgoing Provincial Assembly [58].

The Twenty-First Amendment was enacted to provide for the speedy trial of persons involved in terrorism and waging war against Pakistan [1]. Section 1(3) specifically stipulated that the provisions would remain in force for a period of two years from the date of its commencement, after which they would be repealed [2]. This amendment was a response to the extraordinary threat to the integrity of Pakistan [3].

The amendment inserted a proviso into Article 175 stating that judicial protections therein would not apply to persons claiming to belong to a terrorist group or organization using the name of religion or a sect [4]. It targeted those involved in insurrection or acts threatening security using religious or sectarian identities [1, 3]. This measure excluded political parties regulated under the Political Parties Order, 2002 [4].

The Preamble of the Twenty-First Amendment references the sad and terrible terrorist attack on the Army Public School at Peshawar on 16 December 2014 [5]. This event led to a resolve by the people of Pakistan to permanently wipe out and eradicate terrorists [5]. The amendment was designed to provide constitutional protection to necessary security measures [5].

The Twenty-First Amendment added The Pakistan Army Act, 1952, The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953, and The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 to the First Schedule [6]. It also included the Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 [6]. These additions were intended to ensure these laws were exempted from the operation of certain Fundamental Rights under Article 8 [6, 7].

The Twenty-Second Amendment revised Article 213(2) to set the age limit for the Commissioner at not more than sixty-eight years [8]. For members of the Election Commission, the age limit is slightly lower at sixty-five years [9]. This amendment also expanded the eligibility criteria for these roles to include senior civil servants and technocrats [8].

A technocrat is defined as a person with a degree requiring at least sixteen years of education and at least twenty years of experience [8]. This experience must include a record of achievements at the national or international level [8]. This definition ensures that those appointed to the Commission have significant expertise [10].

To introduce staggered terms, the amendment requires that two members shall retire after the expiration of the first two and a half years [11]. The Commission is mandated to draw a lot to determine which two members retire early during the first term [11]. This ensures continuity within the Election Commission [10].

In cases of disagreement, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition must each forward separate lists to the Parliamentary Committee [12]. This committee, which consists of twelve members, then considers the names to confirm one [13]. This process aims to maintain transparency and political balance in appointments [10].

The amendment updated Article 222(b) to explicitly include the delimitation of constituencies of local governments [14]. It also ensured that the Election Commission is responsible for holding general elections to local governments [15]. This expanded the Commission's constitutional mandate over local democracy [10].

A senior civil servant is defined as one who has served for at least twenty years under the Federal or a Provincial Government [8]. Furthermore, they must have retired in BPS-22 or above [8]. This ensures that high-ranking officials with administrative experience can serve on the Commission [10].

The Twenty-Third Amendment was enacted because the Twenty-First Amendment had stand repealed after its two-year term expired [16]. It sought to continue special measures for the expeditious disposal of terrorism offences [16]. The amendment recognized that an extraordinary situation and grave threat still existed [16, 17].

The Act was deemed to have taken effect on and from 7th January, 2017 [18]. This date matched the expiration of the Twenty-First Amendment, ensuring no legal gap in the special trial procedures [16]. Like the previous amendment, it was set to remain in force for a period of two years [18].

The amendment added the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 to the First Schedule, but specifically only to the extent of a sub-clause added to the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 through the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2017 [19]. This precision ensured that only specific military-related terrorism trials received constitutional protection [17, 20].

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment added a proviso to Article 51(5), allowing seat allocation for the 2018 general elections to be based on the provisional results of the 2017 census [21]. Usually, the constitution requires results from the last preceding census officially published [21]. This was a one-time exception to facilitate the election timeline [22].

The substituted table in Article 51 allocated 75 total seats to Sindh, consisting of 61 general seats and 14 women's seats [23]. By comparison, Punjab was allocated 174 seats and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 48 seats [23]. This reallocation reflected the demographic changes captured in the provisional 2017 census [21].

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment resulted in the merger of FATA into the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts into Balochistan [24, 25]. It amended Article 1 to omit references to FATA as a separate administrative territory [26]. This was a landmark move to bring these areas into the mainstream constitutional framework [27, 28].