This post will help you to know “Objectives behind the inclusion of articles 62 63 in 1973 constitution”. “What are these articles and what they are about?”
Objectives Behind The Inclusion Of Articles 62 And 63
Articles 62 and 63 of the 1973 constitution of Pakistan might not have got attention of both public and politicians for next few years if Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was not disqualified on the basis of it. The disqualification of sitting Prime Minister was came after when the Supreme Court of Pakistan during Panama Leaks trial found Mr Nawaz Sharif guilty of trying to deceive the court. His act made him untruthful and non-trustworthy and as he remained no more Sadiq and Ameen so he was disqualified from his parliamentary seat and was sent back to home.
Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution of Pakistan demanded that each and every member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) should be Sadiq (truthful) and Ameen (trustworthy) in his/her actions. Any person lacking these characteristics cannot enter into the Parliament of the country.
What Articles 62 And 63 Says?
Article 62 of the 1973 constitution explains the characteristics of a member of parliament (Majlis-e-Shura). It says that for a person to be elected to Majlis-i-Shura, he must be a Pakistani citizen, must not be below 25 years of age and so on and so forth. It also says that he must have adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and he must be sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and Ameen.
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Article 63 of the constitution, on the other hand, is about the disqualification of a member of parliament. It says that the parliamentary membership of a person shall be cancelled if he is insane or insolvent or his Pakistani citizenship has been cancelled and son.
Objectives Of Zia Behind Article 62, 63 Inclusion
These articles (62, 63) were not the part of original 1973 constitution and were added later by Ziaulhaq, a military dictator, during his regime. Ziaulhaq had no doubt, some objectives behind the inclusion of these articles in the constitution. Some of these objectives have been discussed blow.
(A) Selective Co-option
After taking over control of the country, Ziaulhaq, in order to perpetuate his rule devised a plan for constructing new ruling coalition, which is loyal to him and his regime. He used articles 62 and 63 as a tool and disqualified all members of the Majlis-i-Shura and elected new parliamentarians.
(B) Zia’s Pakistan
Ziaulhaq had his own version of Pakistan in his mind. After taking control of the state, he began to reshape Pakistan according to his own peculiar ideas that he had about Pakistan and how it should be? He wanted Pakistan to be an Islamic country in its very essence. Articles 62 and 63 inclusion was the first step towards his this goal.
(C) Liberals Out
To be able to put his plan of Islamisation of the country into practice, it was necessary for Zia to snatch the right of opposition from liberal politicians. For this purpose articles 62 and 63 proved very helpful for Zia as it keep liberal politicians out of the Majlis-e-Shura (Parliament).
Musharaf’s Use Of Articles 62 and 63
History shows that every time when a military dictator has took control of the country, he has followed three steps, selective co-option, collateralization and containment to extend his rule in the country. Ret. Gen. Parvez Musharaf followed the same steps when he took over in October 1999.
To strengthen his rule further, he added some sub sections and clause to articles 62 and 63. The objective was certainly to enter such people into parliament that are loyal to him and to minimize the role of bureaucracy and to contain the political activities of the ousted political party and other politicians.
