Towards a constitution of justice, accountability, and shared prosperity
The Constitution of Pakistan, enacted in 1973, was meant to be a social contract between the people and the state, guaranteeing fundamental rights, justice, and good governance.
Yet, fifty-two years later, the lived reality of the people tells another story: a story of unfulfilled promises, systemic failures, entrenched corruption, and the deliberate neglect of the citizen’s most basic rights.
In the twenty-first century — defined by rapid digitization, globalization, and the transformative impact of artificial intelligence — the 1973 Constitution in its current form is unable to guarantee transparency, accountability, efficiency, or minimized corruption.
It lacks enforceable mechanisms for ensuring that fundamental rights are not mere statements but living realities. This structural weakness has rendered our constitutional rights ornamental, often ignored by those in power.
The urgent need today is not cosmetic amendment, but a profound restructuring of constitutional principles, obligations, and enforcement mechanisms to make the Constitution compatible with the third decade of the twenty-first century.
Without such reforms, Pakistan will remain caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, weak institutions, and political instability.
Fundamental rights reduced to empty promises
One of the most glaring constitutional failure lies in the enforcement — or rather, non-enforcement — of fundamental rights. Article 25A of the Constitution for example declares:
“The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.”
Article 7 defines the state as the federal government, parliament, provincial governments, provincial assemblies, and such local or other authorities empowered to impose tax or cess. The meaning is clear: every organ of the state is obligated to ensure that no child in Pakistan is deprived of free and compulsory education.
Yet, the reality is that millions of children remain out of school—begging on streets, working in hazardous conditions, or simply roaming aimlessly. Provincial laws enacted under Article 25A repeat the state’s duty but fail to produce results. The governments—federal and provincial—have grossly failed in their constitutional duty, diverting resources to prestige projects and political optics rather than investing in human capital.
This neglect is not merely a policy failure; it is a constitutional betrayal. When a child is denied education, the Constitution is violated. When a government builds highways and metro buses but leaves classrooms empty, it breaks faith with its own supreme law.
The colonial legacy and the weakness of constitutional authority
The absence of binding constitutional guidelines at independence in 1947 allowed colonial institutions—crafted to control subjects rather than empower citizens—to dominate the political and administrative life of Pakistan. Genuine democratic and pro-people forces were systematically suppressed and persecuted, while mercenary elites loyal to their former masters consolidated power.
The first Martial Law of 1958 was not an accident but the natural consequence of this imbalance: once it became clear that progressive forces might prevail in elections scheduled to held in February, 1959, the colonial institutional elite on the orders of their masters intervened to snuff out democracy.
The Constitution, even when adopted, was treated as secondary to the will of unelected powers.
This historical weakness continues to haunt us. Our constitutions — including the 1973 framework — never developed binding, enforceable mechanisms to guarantee fundamental rights, good governance, and accountability. The result is a state where the people’s sovereignty is repeatedly subverted, and rights are reduced to paper statements.
Why reform cannot wait
The world has moved on. Governance in the 21st century is measured by inclusivity, transparency, technological efficiency, and participatory democracy. Nations that fail to adapt are condemned to stagnation. Pakistan today faces this very danger.
Without compulsory high-tech education with skill development, no economy can be competitive in the global digital age. Without enforceable accountability, corruption corrodes every institution. Without judicial efficiency and transparent elections, democracy itself becomes hollow.
The time has come to restructure the Constitution, not by discarding its spirit but by making its promises real—binding governments, institutions, and leaders to their constitutional duties with enforceable mechanisms and real consequences for failure.
Proposed constitutional amendments
Drawing on both historical lessons and contemporary imperatives, the following reforms must be embedded into the Constitution to make it relevant to the third decade of the 21st century:
- Fundamental rights with enforceable timelines
All fundamental rights—including the right to life, education, healthcare, equality, freedom of speech, and the right to information—must be made strictly time-bound and directly enforceable. Every organ of the state must be constitutionally obligated to fulfill these rights within specified timelines.
Failure to comply should not remain a political or administrative lapse but must automatically trigger legal and financial consequences. These consequences should include contempt of court proceedings, budgetary sanctions against the defaulting authority, and, in cases of deliberate neglect or willful suspension, initiation of proceedings under Article 6 of the Constitution (high treason), since placing fundamental rights in abeyance amounts to undermining the supreme law of the land.
- Right to life expanded to socio-economic entitlements
Article 9 (right to life) should be expanded to include all aspects of life, access to food, shelter, opportunity to be part of productive economy, clean drinking water, healthcare, electricity, high-speed internet, digital literacy, and technology. These are no longer luxuries; they are prerequisites for full participation in society.
- Enforceable Article 25A
The Constitution must specify that every child must be in school by a given deadline, with governments at federal, provincial, and local levels held jointly liable. Annual performance audits on education must be published, with failures leading to legal and financial penalties.
- Strengthened federation and provincial autonomy
The federal structure of Pakistan must be safeguarded as an inviolable constitutional principle. Provincial autonomy, as guaranteed under Article 2A, must remain sacrosanct and beyond encroachment.
At the same time, local governments must be accorded explicit constitutional protection as the third tier of governance—recognized not as optional or temporary bodies, but as permanent, financially empowered, and administratively independent functional units.
The Constitution must clearly delineate the scope of devolution of powers to ensure that authority flows from the federation to the provinces and further down to local governments, leaving no room for arbitrary centralization or usurpation of powers. Only then can the federation remain balanced, responsive, and truly representative of the people’s will.
- Transparency and right to information
All government offices, records, and processes must be digitized (100%) and accessible to citizens under transparency laws. Proactive disclosure — not reactive access — must be the norm.
- Judiciary and electoral reform
• Transparent judicial appointments with clear criteria.
• Inexpensive, speedy justice accessible at the citizen’s doorstep.
• Electoral laws mandating live vote counting, declaration in presence of party agents, and fully transparent digitized electoral processes.
- Performance reporting by elected officials
Every minister should submit biannual performance reports to the public; parliamentarians and senators should report annually to their constituencies or provinces.
- No-confidence with safeguards
The no-confidence clause should only apply if a government fails to fulfil constitutional duties or enforce fundamental rights, subject to judicial review.
- Entrenchment of a basic structure
An immutable “basic structure” must be enshrined, consisting of:
• federal polity,
• provincial autonomy,
• parliamentary democracy,
• judicial review,
• sanctity of provincial boundaries.
This prevents arbitrary amendments or authoritarian manipulation.
- Auditor general’s independence
Audit reports must be made binding, evidence-based, and subject to timely remedial action.
Shared prosperity and inclusivity
Constitutional reform must not merely preserve political order; it must create a system of inclusive growth and shared prosperity. Every working-age individual should be enabled to participate in the economy, while women and girls must be empowered through education, healthcare, and protection of rights.
An egalitarian order is not an abstract ideal; it is a constitutional necessity. No society can achieve stability or prosperity while half its population remains excluded.
The Constitution as a living social contract
The Constitution is not a decorative document. It must be the people’s shield against oppression, their guarantee of dignity, and their roadmap to progress. Today, the Pakistani people face poverty, inequality, and political disillusionment not because they lack talent or resources, but because their constitutional rights have been systematically denied.
The 1973 Constitution must therefore be amended and reborn—not in form alone, but in spirit. It must compel the state to prioritize education over prestige projects, human welfare over elite privileges, and transparency over secrecy. It must empower citizens to hold governments accountable, not beg for their rights.
History has shown us what happens when constitutions lack enforceability: rights become hollow, institutions decay, and democracy becomes vulnerable to authoritarian manipulation. Pakistan’s present trajectory—marked by millions of children out of school, collapsing public services, and unchecked corruption—demands nothing less than urgent constitutional reform.
A Constitution fit for the 21st century must be:
• enforceable, not aspirational,
• transparent, not opaque,
• inclusive, not elitist,
• accountable, not arbitrary.
Only then can Pakistan fulfil the promise of its founding vision: a federation rooted in justice, equality, and shared prosperity. The time to act is now.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is advocate High Court, a Techno-economist and an educationist
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