What is Article 62?
For a person to be eligible to be a member of the Parliament, he/she has to fulfill all the clauses under the Article 62. Photo: Reuters
(Dunya News) – Following the ouster of Nawaz Sharif from the premiership of the country last year, an article of the Constitution of Pakistan has come in the spotlight – Article 62, which deals with the eligibility of a parliamentarian.
For a person to be eligible to be a member of the Parliament, he/she has to fulfill all the clauses under the Article 62.
Following is the article in its entirety:
“A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless he is a citizen of Pakistan; he is, in the case of the National Assembly, not less than twenty -five years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll in any part of Pakistan, for election to a general seat or a seat reserved for non-Muslims; and any area in a Province from which she seeks membership for election to a seat reserved for women. He is, in the case of Senate, not less than thirty years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any area in a Province or, as the case may be, the Federal Capital or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, from where he seeks membership; he is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic Injunctions; he has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practises obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins; he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law; he has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.”
According to the Article 62, anyone who is not a Pakistani citizen can’t become the member of the parliament.
The article also states that a member of the National Assembly should not be than 25 years of age.
As a voter the individual’s name should be enlisted in the election voting list, which can be either for a general seat or a non-Muslim seat.
Members of the senate should not be less than 30 years old while their names should enlisted in the provincial voters list. This part of the article is applicable to FATA region as well.
Article 62 further elaborates that the person should be of good moral character and must not hold a repute for violating Islamic principles. Such a person should also have an extensive knowledge in the teachings of Islam and should follow the faith wholeheartedly.
The Article 62 (1) (f) states that anyone who wishes to be a member of the parliament should be wise, honest, and chaste. Furthermore, the article states that there should be no verdict against such an individual.
Under the article, a person seeking to be a member of the Parliament should not have worked against the integrity of Pakistan or criticised the ideology of Pakistan.
For more on this, watch a report by Dunya News below.
