Procedure towards finding caretaker set-up worked out: National Assembly passes 20th Amendment Bill unanimously

The National Assembly Tuesday passed "The Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill, 2012" unanimously to empower Election Commission of Pakistan and make the procedure towards establishing an interim setup to hold a free, fair and transparent election flawless.
The Lower House of the Parliament passed the Bill with 247 votes - more than a two-thirds majority in favour while no vote was cast against it. This legislation would also give a legal cover to the bye-elections conducted by the Chief election Commissioner in the interregnum.
The government presented two amendments in clauses three and four of the Bill while a new clause 2 was also inserted in it following consultations with coalition partners and the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Federal Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Moula Bakhsh Chandio tabled the Bill in the House for its passage while Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar presented amendments for approval. There were 11 clauses of the Bill. Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza presented each clause in the House for vote. The House approved every clause with more than two-thirds majority.
According to clause 8 of the Bill, Insertion of new Article 224A of the Constitution:- After Article 224, amended as aforesaid, the following new Article shall be inserted, namely:
"224A. Resolution by Committee or Election Commission: (1) In case the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the care-taker Prime Minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing National Assembly or the Senate, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively.
(2) In case a Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Provincial Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the care-taker Chief Minister, within three days of the dissolution of that Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing Provincial Assembly having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively.
(3) The Committee constituted under clause (1) or (2) shall finalise the name of the care-taker Prime Minister or care-taker Chief Minister, as the case may be, within three days of the referral of the matter to it.
Provided that in case of inability of the Committee to decide the matter in the aforesaid period, the names of the nominees shall be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan for final decision within two days.
(4) The incumbent Prime Minister and the incumbent Chief Minister shall continue to hold office till appointment of the care-taker Prime Minister and the care-taker Chief Minister, as the case may be.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) and (2), if the members of the opposition are less than five in any Assembly then all of them shall be members of the Committee mentioned in the aforesaid clauses and the Committee shall be deemed to be duly constituted.".
Similarly according to clause 7 of the Bill, "7. Amendment of Article 224 of the Constitution:- In the constitution, in Article 224;
(a) In clause (1A),
(i) in the first proviso, for the word "selected" the word, "appointed" shall be substituted;
(ii) after the proviso, as amended hereinabove, the following new proviso shall be inserted, namely;-
"Provided further that if the Prime Minister or a Chief Minister and their respective Leader of the Opposition do not agree on any person to be appointed as a care taker Prime Minister or the care-taker Chief Minister, as the case may be, the provisions of Article 224A shall be followed",; and
(iii) in the second proviso, for the word "further" the word "also" shall be substituted; and
"Provided that if at any time the party list is exhausted, the concerned political party may submit a name for any vacancy which may occur thereafter".
According to Clause 10 of the Bill, "Amendment of the Third Schedule to the Constitution:- In the Constitution, in the Third Schedule, in the Oath prescribed for the Chief Election Commission:-
The Bill also fixed the tenure of the Chief Commissioner and members of the Election Commission for five years.
According to new clause 2 inserted in the Bill, Clauses 2 to 10 shall be renumbered as clauses 3 to 11 respectively and the following new clause 2 shall be inserted, namely,-
"2. Amendment of Article 48 of the Constitution,- In the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as the Constitution, in Article 48, in clause (5), in paragraph (b), after the word "Cabinet" the words "in accordance with the provisions of Article 224 or, as the case may be, Article 224 A" shall be added.
Similarly amendment in clause 3 of the Bill renumbered as aforesaid, the words and comma "of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as the Constitution" shall be omitted.
Amendment in clause 9 of the Bill, In Clause 9 renumbered as aforesaid, in the proposed Article 224A,-
(a) in clause (1), after the word "Senate" the words "or both" shall be inserted.
(b)in clause (2), for the word "eight" the word "six" shall be substituted.
(c) for clause (5) the following shall be substituted namely,"(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in clauses (1) and (2), if the members of the Opposition are less than five in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and less than four in any Provincial Assembly, then all of them shall be members of the Committee mentioned in the aforesaid clauses and the Committee shall be deemed to be duly constituted.".
Earlier, before the passage of the Bill, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chudhary Nisar Ali said that this legislation was in the larger interest of the nation, democratic system and an independent election commission of Pakistan. He said that the government presented the Bill after consultations with the Opposition.
He said that the bill would also give legal cover of bye-election which was conducted by an incomplete election Commission. He said that there was no fault of members who were elected in by-elections. It was the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner to follow the law, he concluded.