SEARCH ARTICLE

16 Pages : 152-159

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2020(V-IV).16      10.31703/gssr.2020(V-IV).16      Published : Dec 2020

Balancing and Rebalancing of Judicial Autonomy: a Critical Analysis of Basic Structure Theory

    With its restoration in March 2009, the judiciary exceptionally emerged as an independent state organ and sought autonomy from parliament, which embarked on another avenue of confrontation between these two organs. Considering past experience, parliament was committed to imposing modest restraints on the judiciary and ensured its representation in the process of judicial appointments to the Superior Courts in the form of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, which the court considered as an attack on its autonomy. With the help of qualitative research methodology, this research aimed to investigate the post-2009 judicial-legislative transition, which apparently started up with their confrontation and imbalance between these organs. Both state organs are striving to identify their constitutional bounds, which will ultimately lead to equilibrium between these organs.

    Judicial Autonomy, 18th Amendment, 19th Amendment, Constitution, Basic Structure Theory.
    (1) Bakht Munir
    Lecturer, Institute of Languages and Linguistics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (2) Um e Noreen
    Lecturer, College of Law, University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

05 Pages : 71 - 80

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2018(III-II).05      10.31703/gssr.2018(III-II).05      Published : Jun 2018

National Plan for Devolution of Power under 18th Amendment: Challenges for Government in the New Pakistan

    History of the politics of agitation and protest indicate that political agitation has always been converted from any point to the issue of provincial autonomy in Pakistan. The case of Pakistan Tehrik-E-Insaf (PTI), on alleged rigging after the general elections of 2013 also suggests that the protest after general elections 2018 would at last be transformed from rigging to demanding the redressal of provincial grievances over devolution of power under 18th amendment. Since, provincial governments including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) had continuously been registering grievances about the transfer of liabilities without transferring corresponding assets and resources to provinces. In current scenario under the slogan of 'New-Pakistan' the registering of complaints by political leadership against federation though the card of provincial autonomy would have more and prolonged potential and attraction for the general public rather than merely protest on rigging. Therefore, the biggest challenge for the government in new Pakistan would be addressing the provincial issues. Because sooner or later the protest led by opposition political parties over rigging in 2018 elections would be transformed within one year into the protest for provincial issues. In the backdrop, this study highlights the challenges for newly established government of PTI in-terms of center-province relations over provincial autonomy. Further, conventional approach of federalism (extreme centralized federalism) still prevails in Pakistan which ultimately poses impediments to center-provinces virtuous working relations. That’s why it would be significant to investigate that on what issues working relation between federal and provincial governments may potentially be deteriorate. Political and economic measures have also been suggested in this study for PTI government to address the regional grievances and disparity in New-Pakistan.

    Federalism, Provincial Autonomy, 18th Amendment, Challenges, New Pakistan
    (1) Sajida Begum
    Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science & IR, Minhaj University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (2) Muhammad Imran Ashraf
    Assistant Professor, Department of IR, National Defense University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
    (3) Waseem Ishaque
    Assistant Professor, Department of IR, National Defense University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

11 Pages : 163-171

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2017(II-I).11      10.31703/gssr.2017(II-I).11      Published : Jun 2017

Issue of SaraikiStan: Post 18th Amendment

    The paper primarily focuses on salient dynamics voiced for division of Punjab and establishment of Saraiki Province and is aiming to aware coming parliamentarians regarding the sensitive issue so that they can make themselves capable to develop skill to resolve such generic issues. The non-justifiable allocation and distribution of resources by the federal government not only created hatred between East and West Pakistan in 1971 but later on among four provinces of Pakistan as well. For the last more than seventy years, the inspirations of ethnicity and regionalism evoked by Pukhtoons, Baluchis, Muhajirs and Saraikis made the process of national integration complex and so politicized different socio-economic and issues concerning different people of different regions which sometimes led to civil war situations in Pakistan. Though state's constitution provided equal rights and opportunities to all nationalities in all spheres of life. However the feeling of provincialism or regionalism awakens in the minds when the people of a particular area are continuously neglected by the ruling class and so they are politically educated as backward and discriminated people by their local leaders. In this way, these leaders keep political hold over the specified area and its people. Regional disparities in terms of revenue and consumptions have awakened the perception of ignorance and discrimination and this is the reason that PML (N) faced severe hurdles and the repatriation of its own parliamentarians as the Saraiki community has been continuously neglected by the Punjabi dominated Political Party in the National legislature.

    Ethno-Nationalism, Identity Crisis, Deprivations, Regionalism, Saraiki Nationalist Movement, Eighteenth Amendment
    (1) Sana Ullah
    Demonstrator & PhD Scholar, Department of Political Science, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan
    (2) Ijaz Khalid
    Demonstrator & PhD Scholar, Department of Political Science, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan
    (3) Shazia Hassan
    Assistant Professor, LMS Department, Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan

22 Pages : 233-239

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).22      10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).22      Published : Mar 2021

Governance Issues Among Provincial and Federal Governments: A Causative Analysis of Pakistan and Way Forward Amid COVID-19

    Anxiousness among the world governments is high in emerging after the lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic for stabilizing their economies. Countries like Pakistan feel this pressure much higher due to the prevailing informal economy, poverty, free media, and conspiracy theories.Dissolution of critical services powers under the 18th amendment of 'The Constitution of Pakistan 1973’ underscored differences among provincial autonomy. In this situation, estimation of federal government’s responsibility in crisis management, the role of NDMA, delayed creation of NCOC, and options for‘smart’ lock down was the dithering by the Federal govt which caused initial damage. Pakistan has a snacking history of 'basic democracies,' 'devolution of powers, and consolidated instructions for provincial administrative working from the Federal governments. This paper aims to study the impact of ‘Mix-Messaging 'in power exercise is studied under qualitative method with discourse analysis to find reasons behind governance challenges and way forward to deal with governance challenges during COVID-19 ranging from in-person to e-governance systems.

    18th Amendment, COVID-19, Governance Capacity, NCOC, Mix-Messaging Crisis
    (1) Sehrish Qayyum
    Assistant Professor, Pakistan Navy War College, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
    (2) Umbreen Javaid
    Professor, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

27 Pages : 278 -285

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).27      10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).27      Published : Jun 2021

Judicial Observations over the Doctrine of Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendment in Pakistan: A Critical Appraisal

    The legal fraternity and some political parties around the country challenged the twenty-first constitutional amendment, enacted by the Parliament of Pakistan. The petitioners contended that the Legislature amended the basic features of the Pakistan Constitution beyond its scope of amending power and liable to be declared unconstitutional. However, some of the judges of the apex Court of Pakistan adopted the former judicial approach. They ruled that the apex court had no authority to annul any amendment when it became a formal part of 1973’sConstitution. The apex court further stated that the impugned amendment might be taken under consideration if it was found that the required constitutional procedure for amendment did not comply with it. This research aims to critically analyze observations of the apex court about examining the constitutional amendment on the yardstick of repugnancy with the basic features of the Constitution of Pakistan. For achieving the proposed objective, this study adopts a doctrinal research method. It carries out an in-depth analysis from the perspective of modern Constitutionalism,juristic literature, and judgments of the superior courts of various States to support the study.

    Amendment, Constitution, Pakistan, Judicial Review, Basic Structure, Supreme Court, Implicit Limitation
    (1) Muhammad Hassan
    Visiting Lecturer, Department of Law, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
    (2) Amjad Hussain
    Assistant Professor, Department of Law, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
    (3) Aas Muhammad
    Lecturer, Department of Law, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan

17 Pages : 174 ‒ 183

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-IV).17      10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-IV).17      Published : Dec 2021

The Politics of Opposition: A Critical Analysis of Financial Legislation in Pakistan (2013-18)

    In a parliamentary democracy, the opposition has a significant role in the parliament. This research article analyzes the role of opposition benches in finance bills presented on the floor of the National Assembly in the PML-N government from 2013-2018. It thoroughly investigates the debates of the members of the opposition benches made on all the budget bills in the period 2013-18. Moreover, the suggestions and amendments put forward by the members of the opposition parties are also critically analyzed.This study has carried out under a qualitative research design. The descriptive-analytical method is adopted for the analysis of data. This research shows that the opposition benches had actively participated in the budget bills through debate and cut motions. It had also criticized those policies of the government which are against the welfare of the common people, particularly the imposition of new taxes. It further finds that the opposition parties did the contrary when they came in power.

    Opposition, Budget, Debate, Cut Motions, Amendments
    (1) Muhammad Adil
    Visiting Assistant Professor, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
    (2) Manzoor Khan Afridi
    Associate Professor, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

14 Pages : 157-168

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2025(X-I).14      10.31703/gssr.2025(X-I).14      Published : Mar 2025

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nationalistic Policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its Impact on the Indian Muslims

    In 2019, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India for the second term. Since his first term in 2014, there has been a surge in Hindu nationalism and a declining secular ethos. Due to these changes in the political landscape of India, there has been enactment of several discriminatory laws against Muslims in Indian Occupied Kashmir and India. Right after coming to power in 2019, Modi revoked articles 370 and 35-a which granted  Indian-occupied Kashmir autonomy under the Indian Union. Moreover, the promulgation of the Citizenship Amendment Act has created insecurities for millions of Muslims. These structural policies have shrunk the space for the largest minority of India: the Muslims. There is limited knowledge of the structural policies against Muslims and how it affects them. This study will use the structural violence of Johan Galtung's violence triangle to contextualize the discriminatory policies put in place to marginalize Muslims.

    Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu Nationalism, Indian Muslims, Structural Violence, Citizenship Amendment Act, Article 370
    (1) Fatima Ahmed
    Independent Research Scholar, Pakistan.
    (2) Tabish Munir
    MPhil Scholar, Faculty of Social Sciences, Quaid e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.