Election of President Musharraf!

[Ali_Syed]

Why? How can you come to that conclusion? First of all, presidential election is due between 15 Sept and 15 Oct. That is constitutional. Assemblies that would be there at that time would elect the president is also constitutional. Why President should be worried about that? Do you mean that if such enquiry would have come to Supreme Court, CJ would have given non-constitutional decision?

Still, even if President wanted to go with non-constitutional thing, is there any power to stop that? In that case, why President would go for election anyhow? If he really wants to go for non-constitutional means, he would just use same method that he used to come to power first time, right? Anyhow, that is not an issue to me. Issue is that, what constitution says? And according to constitution, election should happen between 15 Sept and 15 Oct from assemblies present at that time.

Saleem bhai, here’s an answer to you regarding the constitutional election of Musharraf…according to the 17th amendment, the rules of election of president were changed…according to the changed rules a secret ballot had to be held but musharraf was elected through a vote of confidence…

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8204

Fakhruddin G Ebrahim submitted that Article 41 of the Constitution, which relates to the election of the president, was changed through the 17th Amendment for the election of President General Pervez Musharraf and hence he was not a duly elected president. The president was allowed to be elected through a vote of confidence instead of secret balloting under the amended article. “This was a sheer violation of the democratic and electoral spirit. That is why the president is not a constitutional president and as such he cannot avail immunity given to him under Articles 248 and 211,” Ebrahim argued.

here’s article 41 of pakistan’s constitution, see the third clause (in red) which specifies the way the president can be elected. Read 41-3 with second schedule to get an idea of the election of the president.

http://www.pakistanconstitution-law.com/const_results.asp?artid=41&title=The%20President

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.
(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.]

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this is the second schedule : Second Schedule: Election of President 10. The poll shall be taken at the meetings of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and of each Provincial Assembly, and respective Presiding Officers shall conduct the poll with the assistance of such officers as they may, with the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner, respectively appoint.

11. A ballot paper shall be issued to every member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), and of each Provincial Assembly, who presents himself for voting at the meeting of the members of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or, as the case may be, of the Provincial Assembly of which he is a member (hereinafter referred to as a person voting), and he shall exercise his vote personally by marking the paper in accordance with the provisions of the succeeding paragraphs.

12. The poll shall be secret ballot by means of ballot papers containing the names of all the candidates in alphabetical order who have not withdrawn, and person voting shall vote by placing a mark against the name of the person for whom he wishes to vote.

13. Ballot papers shall be issued from a book of ballot-papers with couterfoils, each counterfoil being numbered; and when a ballot paper is issued to a person voting his name shall be entered on the counterfoil, and the ballot paper shall be authenticated by the initials of the Presiding Officer.

14. A ballot paper having been marked by the person voting shall be deposited by that person in a ballot box to be placed in front of the Presiding Officer.

15. If a ballot paper is spoiled by a person voting he may return it to the Presiding Officer, who shall issue a second ballot paper, canceling the first ballot paper and marking the cancellation on the appropriate counterfoil.

16. A ballot paper shall be invalid if:- (i) there is upon it any name, word or mark, by which the person voting may be identified; or (ii) it does not contain the initials of the Presiding Officer; or (iii) it does not contain a mark; or (iv) a mark is placed against the names of two or more candidates; or (v) there is any uncertainty as to the identity of the candidate against whose name the mark is placed.

17. After the close of the poll each Presiding Officer shall, in the presence of such of the candidates or their authorized representatives as may desire to be present, open and empty the ballot boxes and examine the ballot papers therein, rejecting any which are invalid, count the number of votes recorded for each candidate on the valid ballot papers, and communicate the number of the votes so recorded to the Chief Election.

18. (1) The Chief Election Commissioner shall determine the result of the election in the following manner, namely:- (a) the number of votes cast in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in favor of each candidate shall be counted; (b) the number of votes cast in a Provincial Assembly in favor of each candidate shall be multiplied by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly for the time being having the smallest number of seats and divided by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly in which the votes have been cast; and (c) the number of votes calculated in the manner referred to in clause (b) shall be added to the number of votes counted under clause (a). Explanation: In this paragraph, “total number of seats” includes seats reserved for non-Muslims and women.
    (2) A fraction shall be rounded off to the nearest whole.

19. The candidate who has obtained the largest number of votes compiled in the manner specified in paragraph 18 shall be declared by the Chief Election Commissioner to be elected.

(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.
2(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.]