- The final draft awaits the result of the parliamentary body’s review.
- The PPP calls for the restoration of the original Section 248 protections.
- The PMLN agrees that the NAB should eventually be abolished.
ISLAMABAD: During the recent discussions between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on the draft 27th constitutional amendment, the PPP had demanded life immunity for the president and abolition of the National Accountability Bureau.
Section 248 of the Constitution grants the President immunity from criminal prosecution during his term of office, stipulating that “no criminal proceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or prosecuted against the President or any Governor in any court during his term of office.”
The PPP, however, sought to extend this protection beyond the duration of protection, by proposing lifelong immunity. This means that if Parliament approves it, no criminal proceedings, old or new, can continue against the president even after he leaves office and during his lifetime.
The party had also demanded the abolition of NAB, an issue which was part of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between the PPP and PML-N in 2006.
The CoD had committed to replacing the NAB with an independent accountability commission that would operate transparently under parliamentary oversight.
The final draft of the amendment is expected to be prepared once the parliamentary body completes its examination and presents its report to the Senate and the National Assembly.
Senior PPP leader Murtaza Wahab, who was part of the party team that held discussions with the PML-N on the draft 27th constitutional amendment, said: News that the PPP had sought to restore the original protection provided under Article 248 for the President, Governors, Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Ministers, which Iftikhar Chaudhry had unconstitutionally removed.
He said the PPP also wanted the remaining unimplemented points of the CoD – including the abolition of the NAB – to be incorporated into the amendment.
Wahab explained that issues on which consensus has been reached between the ruling parties have been included in the draft 27th Amendment, while other proposals, such as the abolition of the NAB, for which an agreement could not yet be reached, remain under discussion and have not been rejected.
He added that even the PML-N shares the view that the NAB should eventually be abolished, in line with the commitment made by both parties under the Charter of Democracy.
Originally published in The News
