LAHORE, Dec 29: The much reviled National Security Council, set up through the Legal Framework Order, will cease to exist without holding a single meeting since its formation about a year back, after the approval of the 17th constitutional amendment by the Senate and assent by the president during the next few days.
The National Assembly has already adopted the amendment, paving the way for its disbandment as a constitutional entity.
The NSC would be set up afresh by a new enactment by the bicameral legislature, and nobody is in a position to speculate on how long would the exercise take to complete.
Ostensibly, the matter would quietly go on the back-burner as there is not much enthusiasm among the parties to see it on the ground.
Many parties have been opposing the NSC on the plea that it will encroach upon the sovereignty of parliament.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf who, under Article 152-A of the Constitution, is the chairman of the body, had once instructed the relevant authorities to organize the first NSC meeting in the last week of October. But then it was delayed for a month because of the on-off talks between the government and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
The parleys on the LFO changed the situation completely as the two sides agreed to strike down the constitutional provision under which the NSC was set up.
A secretariat of the NSC was set up in the Cabinet Division in Islamabad.
The NSC was formed as a forum for consultation on strategic matters pertaining to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the state; and the matters relating to democracy, governance and inter-provincial harmony.
While the president was the chairman of the council, the prime minister, the chairman of the Senate, the speaker of the National Assembly, the opposition leader in the lower house of parliament, all four chief ministers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the three services chiefs were the members.
The president was empowered to convene a meeting of the NSC either in his discretion or on the advice of the prime minister or a request from other members. Even the opposition leader had been authorized to make a request for the NSC meeting to discuss any particular issue.
The composition and mandate of the NSC, as and when set up, will be decided by parliament.