PESHAWAR, Dec 3: The laws pertaining to local governments in the provinces cannot be amended by the provincial assemblies without the sanction of the president, claimed legal experts.
Though the NWFP chief minister and other elected MNAs and MPAs were hinting at bringing changes in the laws pertaining to local governments to include the parliamentarians in the developmental schemes, President Gen Pervaiz Musharraf had made it sure that the laws should not be touched by the provincial governments and assemblies without his permission.
Commenting on the issue a former attorney general for Pakistan and a constitutional expert, Qazi Mohammed Jamil said: “As the president has included the local government ordinances, promulgated by the four provincial governments last year, in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, therefore the provincial assemblies cannot repeal or amend these ordinances without the permission of the president.”
Rightly or wrongly, he said, the president had included the laws in the Sixth Schedule through the Legal Framework Order and the provincial governments and the assemblies would have to abide by the provision.
Mr Jamil informed that under Article 268(2) of the Constitution, the laws specified in the Sixth Schedule should not be altered, repealed or amended without prior sanction of the president.
Through the controversial Legal Framework Order the president had included 11 laws in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of 1973.
The ordinance promulgated last year by the provincial governments for the functioning of the local governments system had also been included in the Sixth Schedule by the president.
The present local government system, was provided legal cover through almost identical ordinances promulgated by the provincial governments. The draft of the law was prepared by the federal government, but as local governments were provincial subject therefore the draft was sent to the provincial governments for its promulgation by the respective governors. The NWFP governor had promulgated the NWFP Local Governments Ordinance, 2001, in August last year.
Before the enactment of the LFO, 24 laws were included in the Sixth Schedule. With the insertion of 11 laws through the LFO the number of laws in the Sixth Schedule had enhanced to 35.
The laws included in the schedule by the present government are: The State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956; The NAB Ordinance, 1999; The North West Frontier Province Local Government Ordinance, 2001; The Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001; the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001; The Balochistan Local Government Ordinance, 2001; The Election Commission Order, 2002; The Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002; The Political Parties Order, 2002; The Qualification to Hold Public Offices Order, 2002; and, The Police Order, 2002.