# President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence

Date: 2024

## The fact

On 21 October 2024 President [Asif Ali Zardari](/people/asif-ali-zardari) gave assent to the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 after Senate then [National Assembly](/organizations/national-assembly) passed a rewrite letting a parliamentary committee pick the chief justice from the three most senior judges. The Gazette records presidential assent the same day. The International Commission of Jurists called the amendment a blow to [judicial independence](/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion). The Assembly vote is neighbouring on the live Shehbaz page, not this Contribution as a twin.

## Context

[Shehbaz Sharif](/people/shehbaz-sharif) chaired cabinet and sent advice for assent. Drafts were kept secret; opponents alleged intimidation of MPs.

Cabinet 20 October; Senate that evening; NA predawn 21 October; presidential assent and Gazette the same day. Store assent as Zardari’s instrument. Keep President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence on 2024-10-21 separate from neighbouring 5 August 2003 Geneva sentence, 9 March 2024 electoral-college vote, 10 March 2024 oath, and 21 October 2024 26th Amendment assent.

Pakistan’s president is elected by an electoral college and assents to Acts, including constitutional amendments. He does not write National Assembly arithmetic for the premiership, GHQ operational orders, IMF Executive Board minutes, or a completed judgment that 2024 was stolen. A 2003 Geneva sentence later set aside is not converted here into a unique remaining theft coefficient. February 2024 polling-day shutdown was under a caretaker and is not stored as his presidential Contribution.

## Evidence and sources

National Assembly of Pakistan carries the official instrument or communique. International Commission of Jurists records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is judicial-independence erosion: a completed presidential assent to a constitutional rewrite of how the chief justice is picked.

## What is established and what is not

Established: A 21 October 2024 gazetted presidential assent to the 26th Amendment, independently recorded; ICJ issued a same-day assessment.

Not established: That every later bench is packed, or that he authored the Assembly vote as a twin of the live prime minister.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

The prime minister advised. Parliament passed. GHQ’s neighbouring weight is not converted into sole authorship.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence, not a later speech about President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence on 2024-10-21 is not a licence to treat every later National Assembly of Pakistan communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average President Zardari assents to the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He assented. The prime minister advised. Parliament passed. GHQ’s neighbouring weight is not converted into sole authorship. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Asif Ali Zardari: https://factrail.ai/people/asif-ali-zardari

## Drivers

- Zardari patronage presidency (Pakistan): https://factrail.ai/drivers/zardari-patronage-presidency
- Judicial independence erosion (court capture): https://factrail.ai/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion

## Sources

- https://www.icj.org/pakistan-26th-constitutional-amendment-is-a-blow-to-the-independence-of-the-judiciary/
- https://na.gov.pk/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/pk-zardari-26th-assent-2024