President Zardari signs 20th amendment bill

Updated 4 hours ago 
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the 20th amendment bill which had already been adopted by the Senate and National Assembly earlier this month.

The 20th amendment will now become part of the Constitution.

The bill was passed by the Senate with an over two-thirds majority, with only two Jamaat-e-Islami senators voting against it. Earlier, the National Assembly had approved the bill unanimously.

After the passage of the bill by the upper and lower house, the Prime Minister said the amendment would strengthen democracy in the country.

The 20th Amendment envisages an autonomous Election Commission and neutral caretaker set-ups at the centre and in the provinces for holding fair and free elections. The Bill would amend six articles and Second and Third Schedule to the Constitution besides adding a new article to the document.

On the caretaker set-up, the amendment says if the prime minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the caretaker prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the AssemblyÇ they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly.

The committee will comprise eight members of the outgoing National Assembly or the Senate having equal representation from the treasury and opposition. Members of the committee would be nominated by the prime minister and leader of the opposition.

The committee will finalise the name within three days of the referral of the matter to it. In case of inability of the committee to decide the matter in three daysÇ the names of nominees shall be referred to the Election Commission for final decision within two days. The same procedure would be followed in the provinces.

The incumbent prime minister and incumbent chief minister shall continue to hold office till appointment of the caretaker PM and CM. The provision also clarifies that if the members of the opposition are less than five in the National Assembly and less then four in any Provincial Assembly, then all of them shall be members of the said committee. The prime minister also congratulated the House on the adoption of Domestic Violence Bill.