- The President. (1) There shall be a President of Pakistan who shall be the Head of State and shall represent the unity of the Republic.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for election as President unless he is a Muslim of not less than forty-five years of age and is qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly. 1[(3) The President 2[****] shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule by the members of an electoral college consisting of—
(a) the members of both Houses; and
(b) the members of the Provincial Assemblies.]
3***
(4) Election to the office of President shall be held not earlier than sixty days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of the President in office:
Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be held within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly. (5) An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President shall be held not later than thirty days from the occurrence of the vacancy: Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be held within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly. (6) The validity of the election of the President shall not be called in question by or before any court or other authority.
4[(7)] Omitted
4[(8)] Omitted
4[(9)] Omitted
Footnotes:
- Item 6 of the schedule to P.O. No. 14 of 1985 substituted clause (3) of Art. 41, in its present form, (w.e.f. March 2, 1985), in place of the clause as adopted in 1973, that read :
“(3) The President shall be elected by the members of Parliament in Joint sitting in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule”.
- Section 13(i) of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), omitted the words, brackets and figures “to be elected after the expiration of the term specified in clause (7)” from clause (3) of Art. 41, (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).
3** Article 1 of the schedule to the Constitution (Second Amendment) Order, 2007, President’s Order No. 6 of 207 (P.O. No. 6 of 2007), promulgated by President Musharraf, in the period of Constitutional deviation (between November 3, 2007 and December 15, 2007), w.e.f. December 14, 2007, purported to omit the words, brackets and figures “to be elected after the expiration of the term specified in clause (7)” from clause (3) of Article 41 of the Constitution, w.e.f. the 17th day of August, 1988.
As P.O. No. 6 of 2007, including the said purported Amendment, was not validated by the Parliament, after the general elections of 18th of February, 2008, they were held to void ab initio and of no legal effect in the Short Order dated 31st of July, 2009 and the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court dated 30th of September, 2009 in C.P. No. 09 of 2009 Sindh High Court Bar Association v/s Federation of Pakistan and others.
- Section 13(ii) of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), omitted clauses (7), (8) and (9) of Art. 41, (w.e.f. April 19, 2010). The deleted clauses (7), (8) and (9) of Art. 41, read :
a[(7) The Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan—
(a) shall relinquish the office of Chief Executive on such day as he may determine in accordance with the judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan of the 12th May, 2000; and
(b) having received the democratic mandate to serve the nation as President of Pakistan for a period of five years shall, on relinquishing the office of the Chief Executive, notwithstanding anything contained in this Article or Article 43 or any other provision of the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force, assume the office of President of Pakistan forthwith and shall hold office for a term of five years under the Constitution, and Article 44 and other provisions of the Constitution shall apply accordingly b[:]
b[Provided that paragraph (d) of clause (1) of Article 63 shall become operative on and from the 31st day of December, 2004.]
c[(8) Without prejudice to the provisions of clause (7), any member or members of a House of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of a Provincial Assembly, individually or jointly, may, not later than thirty days from the commencement of the Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003, move a resolution for vote of confidence for further affirmation of the President in office by majority of the members present and voting, by division or any other method as prescribed in the rules made by the Federal Government under clause (9), of the electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and the Provincial Assemblies, in a special session of each House of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and of each Provincial Assembly summoned for the purpose, and the vote of confidence having been passed, the President, notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution or judgment of any court, shall be deemed to be elected to hold office for a term of five years under the Constitution, and the same shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.
(9) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force, the proceedings for the vote of confidence referred to in clause (8) shall be regulated and conducted by the Chief Election Commissioner in accordance with such procedure and the votes shall be counted in such manner as may be prescribed by the rules framed by the Federal Government :
Provided that clauses (8) and (9) shall be valid only for the forthcoming vote of confidence for the current term of the President in office.]
a. Section 10 of the Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003 (3 of 2003), validated the substitution of clause (7) of Art. 41, (w.e.f. December 31, 2003). Item 2 of the schedule to C.E.O. No. 24 of 2002, substituted clause (7) of Art. 41, in its present form, (w.e.f. August 21, 2002), in place of the clause as inserted by item 6 of the schedule to P.O. No. 14 of 1985, (w.e.f. March 2, 1985). Clause (7) of Art. 41 as deleted by substitution, read :
“(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Article or Article 43, or any other Article of the Constitution or any other law, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, in consequence of the result of the referendum held on the nineteenth day of December 1984, shall become the President of Pakistan on the day of the first meeting of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting summoned after the elections to the Houses of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and shall hold office for a term of five years from that day; and Article 44 and other provisions of the Constitution shall apply accordingly.”
b. Section 2(1) of the Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003 (3 of 2003), substituted a colon, in place of the full stop at the end of paragraph (b) of clause (7) of Art. 41 and added the proviso thereto, (w.e.f. December 31, 2003).
c. Section 2(2) of the Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003 (3 of 2003), added new clauses (8) and (9), to Art. 41, (w.e.f. December 31, 2003).
