Govt withdraws Article 63-A from proposed constitutional amendments

ISLAMABAD: The government has stepped back from amending Articles 63-A and 38 of the Constitution, which was initially included in the proposed constitutional amendment bill, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to the details, the final draft of the bill presented in the Senate no longer includes changes to Article 63-A and Article 38 of the constitution of Pakistan.

Earlier, the government had proposed that votes cast by lawmakers against the instructions of their party chief would still be counted.

However, the amendment was dropped from the final version of the bill.

READ: 26th Constitutional Amendment draft presented in Senate

What is Article 63-A of Pakistan’s constitution?

Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan outlines rules regarding disqualification of members of Parliament on the grounds of defection or “floor-crossing” in the assembly. It is aimed at maintaining party discipline and loyalty within political parties, the Article 63-A reads:

“If a member of a Parliamentary Party comprised of a single political party in a House votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, in relation to (i) election of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister or (ii) a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence or (iii) a Money Bill or a Constitution (Amendment) Bill, he may be declared in writing by the Party Head to have defected from the political party and the Party Head may forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer and the Chief Election Commissioner and shall similarly forward a copy to the member concerned.”

Article 63-A grants party leaders the authority to instruct their members on how to vote on “certain important matters” – including electing chief ministers, casting a no-confidence vote or a constitutional amendment – lawmakers “vote on the basis of a joint stand of the parliamentary party to which they belong”.

As per the constitution, if a member violates the Article 63-A will face penalty as the party leader can request the Speaker or the Chairman of the Senate to disqualify the member from the Assembly, including the vacation of the defecting lawmaker’s seat.

By enforcing party discipline, Article 63-A ensures that members do not go against their party’s stance on critical votes.

However, this also limits the independence of individual lawmakers in Parliament, as they must follow the directives of their party leadership.

The recent decision by the government to drop the proposed amendment to this article suggests that the current rules for party loyalty and defection will remain unchanged.