Legal cover to be given to by-polls conducted by CEC: 20th Amendment Bill introduced in National Assembly

The PPP government on Wednesday introduced "The Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill, 2012" in the National Assembly to give legal cover to by-elections conducted by the Chief Election Commissioner without a fully constituted Election Commission of Pakistan.
Federal Minister for religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah tabled the Bill in the House. Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza referred the Bill to the concerned Standing Committee of the House for further deliberation. The Bill would give legal cover to all measures taken by the Chief Election Commissioner for conducting by-elections from April 2010 to July 2011 with the incomplete Election Commission.
The government decision was triggered by a challenge to the legality of 26 by-elections for national and provincial legislatures that have taken place since the 18th Amendment was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari into law on April 19, 2010. A constitutional petition filed by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan challenged the legality of those elections on grounds that the electoral lists were flawed. During the course of the proceedings, the Supreme Court was told that four of the five positions on the election commission were empty. The Supreme Court had directed the Federation for Constitution of an Election Commission in accordance with the Amended (18th Amendment) provisions of the Constitution.
After this, the government had constituted Election Commission of Pakistan in accordance with new procedure given in 18th Amendment of the Constitution. According to objects and reason of the Bill, in a judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan dated 25-4-2011 in the Constitutional Petition No 32/2009, direction was given to the Federation for Constitution of an Election Commission in accordance with the amended provisions of the Constitution and certain observations were also made in the course of hearing of Constitutional Petition No 31/2001, particularly with reference to by-elections which had been conducted by the Chief Election Commission in the interregnum. In order to give legal cover it had become necessary to amend the Constitution for this purpose.
An amendment would be made in Article 219 of the Constitution through this Bill.