April 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 14: The National Assembly is being run under the Constitution which does not include amendments made by President Pervez Musharraf after the proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

An official of the assembly’s secretariat told Dawn that the secretariat had published copies of the constitution which was being used by the secretary, speaker and all assembly members.

He confirmed that articles 270-AAA, 270-B and 270-C that provided indemnity to the president’s acts, including the sacking of about 60 judges of superior courts, were not part of the Constitution that was being used in the assembly.

The official said the National Assembly Secretariat “cannot and will never publish constitution carrying amendments made outside the parliament”.

He said that after the 2002 elections, the then government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q had pressurised the NA Secretariat to publish copies of the Constitution that carried amendments made by President Musharraf after taking over power on Oct 12, 1999, but the secretariat staff had resisted the move.

He said that amendments like 270-AA had become part of the Constitution only after the assembly had adopted the 17th Constitutional Amendment in 2003.

Similarly, he said, amendments made by the president after the imposition of emergency could not become part of the Constitution till their validation by parliament.

National Assembly’s Secretary Karamat Hussain Niazi said that the House was using the Constitution which had been published in July 2004.

He said the secretariat had published copies of the Constitution with the permission of the law ministry. He said that he could not answer any question about the constitution that had been published by the law ministry, which included amendments made by the president after the imposition of emergency.

Federal Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Farooq Naek had earlier told Dawn that he had stopped the distribution of copies of the constitution published by the caretaker government.

Sources said a new edition of the Constitution was published before the MNAs had been sworn in on March 17, but the caretakers had decided not to distribute it among the members, fearing a 2002-like uproar in the lower house of parliament.

The opposition had paralysed the parliament for a year when they strongly protested against the LFO inside and outside the parliament.