Interpretation of Article 63 (A): PTI likely to file presidential reference today

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is all set to file a presidential reference in Supreme Court of Pakistan today (Monday), seeking interpretation of Article 63 (A) for ending the horse-trading in the parliamentary politics.

In a tweet, PTI secretary general who is also minister for planning and development, Asad Umar announced that the presidential reference would be submitted before Supreme Court on Monday for interpretation of Article 63 (A).

“With this, the heinous trade of selling one’s conscience to become a turncoat will be buried forever. It will also reduce the usage of ill-gotten money in politics,” he tweeted.

According to Article 63 (A) of the Constitution, a parliamentarian can be disqualified on grounds of defection if he votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to election of the prime minister or chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a money bill or a Constitution (amendment) bill”.

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The Article says that the party head has to declare in writing that the MNA concerned has defected but before making the declaration, the party head will provide such member with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him.

After giving the member a chance to explain their reasons, the party head will forward the declaration to the speaker, who will forward it to the chief election commissioner (CEC).

The CEC will then have 30 days to confirm the declaration. If confirmed by the CEC, the member “shall cease to be a member of the House and his seat shall become vacant”.

According to sources within the ruling PTI, the presidential reference will be filed in apex court under Article 186 of the Constitution for interpretation of article 63 (A).

The government decided to approach the apex court after footages emerged showing its members National Assembly residing at Sindh House “hideout”, ahead of the crucial no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

Some of the dissident PTI lawmakers openly said that they would vote against the prime minister in the upcoming no-confidence motion, which stirred controversy with the government accusing the opposition parties of horse-trading.

The PTI also issued show-cause notices to its 13 MNAs to respond to the notices within seven days or get ready to face the music. At the same time, the party is also bent upon disqualifying the dissidents for life, for which it is approaching the apex court to interpret Article 63 (A) of the constitution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022