President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday signed the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and gave the credit for its passage to the maturity and political wisdom of the political parties and the parliament. “The 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2012 was passed by the National Assembly on 14th February 2012 and by Senate on 20th February 2012,” said an official statement.
Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the president, while signing the bill, felicitated the entire nation and political parties. The president termed the legislation a landmark development in strengthening democracy and ensuring free, fair and transparent elections under an independent election commission and neutral interim set-ups. The bill seeks to amend Articles 48, 214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 224, and adds a new Article 224A in the constitution to make the Election Commission of Pakistan “truly independent” for holding free and fair elections. The Bill also gives legal cover to the by-elections conducted by the chief election commissioner and provide for mechanisms to set up interim government to hold polls in the future. The spokesman added that the president, while acting upon the advice of the prime minister, had also withdrawn summoning of the National Assembly session, earlier summoned on March 1, 2012.
