PPP sought lifetime immunity for president, abolition of NAB in 27th Amendment

ISLAMABAD: During the recent discussions between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, the PPP had come up with the demand for lifetime immunity for the president and abolition of the National Accountability Bureau.

The Article 248 of the Constitution provides the president with immunity from criminal proceedings during the term of office, stipulating that “no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or a governor in any court during his term of office.” The PPP, however, had sought to extend this protection beyond the term, proposing lifetime immunity. It means if parliament approves it, no criminal proceeding, old or new, can continue against the president even after he leaves the office and during his lifetime.

The party had also demanded the abolition of NAB, an issue that was part of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between the PPP and PMLN in 2006. The CoD had pledged to replace NAB with an independent accountability commission that would function transparently under the parliamentary oversight.

The final draft of the amendment is expected to be shaped after the parliamentary body concludes its review and presents its report to the Senate and National Assembly.

PPP’s senior leader Murtaza Wahab, who was part of the party’s team that held discussions with the PMLN on the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, told The News that the PPP had sought to restore the original protection under Article 248 to the president, governors, prime minister, chief minister and ministers, which was unconstitutionally removed by Iftikhar Chaudhry. He said the PPP also wanted the remaining unimplemented points of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) — including the abolition of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) — to be incorporated in the amendment.

Wahab explained that issues on which consensus was achieved between the ruling parties have been included in the draft 27th Amendment, while other proposals such as the abolition of NAB, where agreement could not be reached yet, remain under discussion and have not been discarded.

He added that even the PMLN shares the view that NAB should eventually be abolished, in line with the commitment made by both parties under the Charter of Democracy.