Approval of the Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution

On April 8, 2010, the National Assembly, in its historic session, unanimously approved the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment Bill with more than two-thirds majority to conclude the constitutional reforms. Following this approval, the entrenched patterns of authority were abolished from the Constitution, essentially reinstating parliamentary democracy in the country.

Through the Eighteenth Amendment, the powers to appoint the heads of the armed forces, governors of provinces, and the dissolution of assemblies, as well as the discretionary powers of the president and governors, were terminated, transferring most significant powers to the Prime Minister. General Zia-ul-Haq’s name was finally removed from the 1973 Constitution, while the 58–2(b), 17th Amendment, LFO, and Concurrent List were abolished, and the number of senators was increased to 104.

According to the Eighteenth Amendment, for the appointment of senior judges, where the Chief Justice of Pakistan leads the Judicial Commission, an eight-member parliamentary commission will also be formed for this purpose. The Eighth Amendment declared any attempt to subvert the Constitution as treasonous, and now the suspension of the Constitution cannot even be validated by the courts. Through this amendment, the emergency imposed on November 3, 2007, during the Musharraf era, and the PCO were also declared illegal, and the name of the province of NWFP was changed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.