The Constitution of Pakistan on pakistani.org
PART III
The Federation of Pakistan
Chapter 1. THE PRESIDENT
-
41.
The President.
- (1) There shall be a President of Pakistan who shall be the
Head of State and shall represent the unity of the Republic.
- (2) A person shall not be qualified for election as President
unless he is a Muslim of not less than forty-five years of age and
is qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly.
-
[18][(3) The President to
be elected after the expiration of the term specified in clause (
7) shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Second
Schedule by the members of an electoral college consisting of:
- (a) the members of both Houses; and
- (b) the members of the Provincial Assemblies.]
- (4) Election to the office of President shall be held not
earlier than sixty days and not later than thirty days before the
expiration of the term of the President in office;
Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period
aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be
held within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly.
- (5) An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President
shall be held not later than thirty days from the occurrence of the
vacancy:
Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period
aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be
held within thirty days of the general election to the
Assembly.
- (6) The validity of the election of the President shall not be
called in question by or before any court or other authority.
-
[19][(7) The Chief
Executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan-
- (a)
- shall relinquish the office of Chief Executive on such day as
he may determine in accordance with the judgement of the Supreme
Court of Pakistan of the 12th May, 2000; and
- (b)
- having received the democratic mandate to serve the nation as
President of Pakistan for a period of five years shall, on
relinquishing the office of the Chief Executive, notwithstanding
anything contained in this Article or Article 43 or any other
provision of the Constitution or any other law for the time being
in force, assume the office of President of Pakistan forthwith and
shall hold office for a term of five years under the Constitution,
and Article 44 and other provisions of the Constitution shall apply
accordingly.
[19A][Provided
that paragraph (d) of clause (1) of Article 63 shall become
operative on and from the 31st day of December, 2004.]
-
[19B]
- [(8) Without prejudice to the provisions of clause (7), any
member or members of a House of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of
a Provincial Assembly, individually or jointly, may, not later than
thirty days from the commencement of the Constitution (Seventeenth
Amendment) Act, 2003, move a resolution for vote of confidence for
further affirmation of the President in office by majority of the
members present and voting, by division or any other method as
prescribed in the rules made by the Federal Government under clause
(9), of the electoral college consisting of members of both Houses
of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and the Provincial Assemblies, in a
special session of each House of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and
of each Provincial Assembly summoned for the purpose, and the vote
of confidence having been passed, the President, notwithstanding
anything contained in the Constitution or judgment of any court,
shall be deemed to be elected to hold office for a term of five
years under the Constitution, and the same shall not be called in
question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.
- (9) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution or
any other law for the time being in force, the proceedings for the
vote of confidence referred to in clause (8) shall be regulated and
conducted by the Chief Election Commissioner in accordance with
such procedure and the votes shall be counted in such manner as may
be prescribed by the rules framed by the Federal Government:-
Provided that clauses (8) and (9) shall be valid only for the
forthcoming vote of confidence for the current term of the
President in office.]
-
42.
Oath of President.
- Before entering upon office, the President shall make before
the Chief Justice of Pakistan oath in the form set out in the Third
Schedule.
-
43.
Conditions of President's office.
- (1) The President shall not hold any office of profit in the
service of Pakistan or occupy any other position carrying the right
to remuneration for the rendering of services.
- (2) The President shall not be a candidate for election as a
member of [20][Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament)] or a Provincial Assembly; and, if a member of [20][Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament)] or a Provincial Assembly is elected as President, his
seat in [20][Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament)] or, as the case may be, the Provincial Assembly shall
become vacant on the day he enters upon his office.
-
44.
Term of office of President.
- (1) Subject to the Constitution, the President shall hold
office for a term of five years from the day he enters upon his
office:
- Provided that the President shall, notwithstanding the
expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor
enters upon his office.
- (2) Subject to the Constitution, a person holding office as
President shall be eligible for re-election to that office, but no
person shall hold that office for more than two consecutive
terms.
- (3) The President may, by writing under his hand addressed to
the Speaker of the National Assembly, resign his office.
-
45.
President's power to grant pardon, etc.
- The President shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and
respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by
any court, tribunal or other authority.
-
[21]
- [46.
Duties of Prime Minister in relation to President.
- It shall be the duty of the Prime Minister:
- (a) to communicate to the President all decisions of the
Cabinet relating to the administration of the affairs of the
Federation and proposals for legislation;
- (b) to furnish such information relating to the administration
of the affairs of the Federation and proposals for legislation as
the President may call for; and
- (c) if the President so requires, to submit for the
consideration of the Cabinet any matter on which a decision has
been taken by the Prime Minister or a Minister but which has not
been considered by the Cabinet.]
-
47.
Removal [22][or impeachment] of President.
- [22A](1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the
President may, in accordance with the provisions of this Article,
be removed from office on the ground of physical or mental
incapacity or impeached on a charge of violating the Constitution
or gross misconduct.
- (2) Not less than one-half of the total membership of either
House may give to the Speaker of the National Assembly or, as the
case may be, the Chairman written notice of its intention to move a
resolution for the removal of, or, as the case may be, to impeach,
the President; and such notice shall set out the particulars of his
incapacity or of the charge against him.]
- (3) If a notice under clause (2) is received by the Chairman,
he shall transmit it forthwith to the Speaker.
- (4) The Speaker shall, within three days of the receipt of a
notice under clause (2) or clause (3), cause a copy of the notice
to be transmitted to the President.
- (5) The Speaker shall summon the two Houses to meet in a joint
sitting not earlier than seven days and not later than fourteen
days after the receipt of the notice by him.
- (6) The joint sitting may investigate or cause to be
investigated the ground or the charge upon which the notice is
founded.
- (7) The President shall have the right to appear and be
represented during the investigation, if any, and before the joint
sitting.
- (8) If, after consideration of the result of the investigation,
if any, a resolution is passed at the joint sitting by the votes of
not less than two-thirds of the total membership of [23][Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament)] declaring that the President is unfit to hold the
office due to incapacity or is guilty of violating the Constitution
or of gross misconduct, the President shall cease to hold office
immediately on the passing of the resolution.
-
[24]
- [48.
President to act on advice, etc.
- (1) In the exercise of his functions, the President shall act
in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet [25][or the Prime Minister].
-
[26][Provided that the
President may require the Cabinet or as the case may be, the Prime
Minister to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise,
and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered
after such reconsideration.]
- (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1), the
President shall act in his discretion in respect of any matter in
respect of which he is empowered by the Constitution to do so [26A][and the validity of
anything done by the President in his discretion shall not be
called in question on any ground whatsoever].
-
[26B]
- (4) The question whether any, and if so what, advice was
tendered to the President by the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, a
Minister or Minister of State shall not be inquired into in, or by,
any court, tribunal or other authority.
- (5) Where the President dissolves the National Assembly, he
shall, in his discretion,:
- (a) appoint a date, not later than [26C] [ninety] days from the
date of the dissolution, for the holding of a general election to
the Assembly; and
- (b) appoint a care-taker Cabinet.
- (6) If, at any time, the President, in his discretion, or on
the advice of the Prime Minister, considers that it is desirable
that any matter of national importance should be referred to a
referendum, the President may cause the matter to be referred to a
referendum in the form of a question that is capable of being
answered either by "Yes" or "No".
- (7) An act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) may lay down the
procedure for the holding of a referendum and the compiling and
consolidation of the result of a referendum.]
-
49.
Chairman or Speaker to act as, or perform functions of, President.
- (1) If the office of President becomes vacant by reason of
death, resignation or removal of the President the Chairman or, if
he is unable to perform the functions of the office of President,
the Speaker of the National Assembly shall act as President until a
President is elected in accordance with clause (3) of Article
41.
- (2) When the President, by reason of absence from Pakistan or
any other cause, is unable to perform his functions, the Chairman
or, if he too is absent or unable to perform the functions of the
office of President, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall
perform the functions of President until the President returns to
Pakistan or, as the case may be, resumes his functions.
The Constitution of Pakistan on pakistani.org