‘Thirteenth Amendment (Act 2018) in AJ&K’s Interim Constitution’

Aimed at studying the recently passed thirteenth amendment in the interim constitution of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K), as well as to develop an insight into the administrative system that was in practice in the region prior to this development, a special session with the former president of AJ&K Sardar Anwar Khan was held at IPS on July 19, 2018.

Khan, while apprising the participants about the rationale-behind, formation, development stages and work scope of the AJ&K Council, shared that the council was envisaged to serve as a linking forum between the governments of AJ&K and Pakistan, following an all-inclusive participatory approach. The provisions in the thirteenth amendment (Act 2018) to the Interim Constitution (Act 1974) however have considerably affected the role and auspices of the AJ&K Council, transferring the financial, legislative and administrative powers to the state government of AJ&K whilst effectively minimizing the role of AJ&K Council to that of an advisory body.

The former AJ&K president pointed that there were certain ambiguities in the text of the document that needed elaboration in order to ensure its successful advocacy and implementation. He urged that the ’13th Amendment (Act 2018)’ was needed to be critically analyzed both at the academic and policy levels not only to trace any loopholes in its passage and implementation, but also to facilitate political consensus over issues pertaining to the division of constitutional powers and governance.

DG-IPS Khalid Rahman, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf and Awais bin Wasi, the acting dean for social sciences at the Riphah International University (RIU) also shared their thoughts on the occasion.