ISLAMABAD, March 12: The Constitution of the country fully revived after exactly 41 months, when the members elected to the Senate took oath on Wednesday.

The emergency proclamation, issued on Oct 14, 1999, on the basis of Gen Pervez Musharraf had held the Constitution in abeyance and suspended Parliament, is not revoked yet.

Government’s legal experts are not ready to comment whether President Gen Pervez Musharraf still enjoys the powers under the proclamation of emergency issued on Oct 14, 1999.

They, however, confirmed that the proclamation of emergency issued on Oct 14, 1999 has not been revoked.

The controversy whether the original Constitution, which existed on Oct 12, 1999 has been revived or it is the amended version, in which the uniformed president enjoys complete domination, is still raging.

The notification issued by the president on Nov 23, had stated, “Article 59 to 63 (both inclusive) and Articles 232 to 239 (both inclusive) on the day when the members elected to the Senate take oath.”

The Constitution, which under the Supreme Court judgment was to be revived by Oct 12, 2002, exactly after three years, have been revived five months after the deadline.

The Constitution is revived in two phases, in the first phase, certain articles, mainly dealing with Senate, provincial assemblies, anti-defection and amendment parliament to legislate were not revived.

On Tuesday, a government official said that the power of the parliament to amend the Constitution is revived and those who were opposed to LFO, are free to resort to Article 239.

When the issue of the LFO was raised before the Supreme Court, it had also said that in the presence of Article 239, the court was not required to pass any judgment.

In Pakistan two emergencies are still in effect, the first was proclaimed by Mian Nawaz Sharif at the time of going nuclear in May 1998, and the other was issued on Oct 14, on the basis of which the Constitution was held in abeyance.

The government has taken the position that the chief executive has amended the Constitution under the legislative powers which were granted to him by the Supreme Court and the LFO was now a part of the Constitution and needed no validation from the parliament.

The legal experts who are not part of the government, however, have different point of view.

Hamid Khan, president of Supreme Court Bar Association, however said, no individual has the authority to amend the Constitution, and not even if the Supreme Court said so. He said that the court was not empowered to legislate itself and how could it vest such a power to any individual, which was not available to itself.

The Constitution has been restored unamended as it stood on Oct 12, 1999 and for making the LFO as a part of the Constitution, resort to Article 239 is must, he said. “At the most the LFO status is no better than a proposal for amendment in the Constitution.”

It is prerogative of the parliament to amend the Constitution under the mechanism provided in articles 238 and 239.

About the proclamation of emergency issued on Oct 14, he said it ceases to exist after the revival of the Constitution.