ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday ruled that votes of defecting lawmakers should be counted as it has declared its previous ruling on Article 63-A of the Constitution null and void.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Amin-ud-Din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan issued the short order on review petitions against the apex court’s 2022 verdict.
In 2022, a five-member bench top court headed by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial announced a verdict with 3-2 narrow majority, declaring that votes cast by defecting lawmakers should not be counted.
The 2022 verdict was announced after then-President Arif Alvi filed a reference seeking interpretation of the Article 63-A of the constitution, which pertains to lawmakers’ defection from party lines and the implications of voting against party policies.
The today’s ruling from CJP-led bench comes as a relief to the incumbent government as it wants to get a constitutional package approved by the parliament. Currently, the government falls short of a two-thirds majority in the parliament, however, the ruling can support him in getting some votes from opposition lawmakers.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has withdrawn from the proceedings in the Supreme Court’s hearing of the Article 63A review appeals.
What is the Article 63-A?
With the latest ruling of the apex court, the Article 63-A has become the talk of the town. Now, take a look what the Article 63-A says:
“If a member of a Parliamentary Party comprised of a single political party in a House 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, he may be declared in writing by the Party Head to have defected from the political party and the Party Head may forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer and the Chief Election Commissioner and shall similarly forward a copy to the member concerned.”
Article 63A was added to the Constitution by the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The main purpose and aim of the 18th Amendment was to restore the Constitution, as far as was practicable, to its original spirit, as envisaged by the framers of the original 1973 Constitution.
Article 63A aims to restrict members of the Parliament or Provincial Assemblies to use their power of voting in certain matters, by making them bound by the decision of the Party Head.
How the Article 63-A Works?
The Article 63-A says if a lawmaker defects from their party, the party head must submit it in writing to the Election Commission of Pakistan, however, the party should serve a show-cause notice on the defecting lawmaker before filing declaration with the election body.
After the submission of the declaration, the presiding officer, who can be the speaker of the National Assembly or Senate chairman, will sent the matter to the chief election commissioner within two days.
The defecting lawmaker’s status as member of the house will be revoked soon after the declaration is confirmed by the ECP.