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This article is part of a series aboutNawaz Sharif
Early life Political career Electoral history Political views Daronomics Foreign policy Parties Pakistan Muslim League Islami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan Muslim League (N) Elections 1988 1990 1993 1997 2013 Chief Minister of Punjab First provincial government Second provincial government Prime Minister of Pakistan First ministry and term First government Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan XII Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Privatisation in Pakistan Operation Clean-up Kashmir Solidarity Day Second ministry and term Second government Anti Terrorism Court of Pakistan Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan XIII XIV XVI 1997 Storming of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Resignation of Jehangir Karamat Nuclear Tests Chagai-I Chagai-II Lahore Declaration Delhi–Lahore Bus Youm-e-Takbir Kargil War 1999 Pakistani coup d'état Third ministry and term Third government International trips Civil–military ties Dawn leaks Military courts National Action Plan (Pakistan) Operation Zarb-e-Azb 2014 protests Prime Minister's Youth Programme Prime Minister's Fee Reimbursement Scheme Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Panama Papers case Go Nawaz Go Gallery: picture, sound, video
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The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (Urdu: آئین پاکستان میں چودہویں ترمیم) was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1997, during the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party. It subjected Members of Parliament to very strict party discipline. Party leaders received unlimited power to dismiss any of their legislators from Parliament if they spoke or voted against their party. The fourteenth amendment to the constitution of Pakistan was to prevent the switching of parties to form a strong coalition government or to become a strong opposition.

Since Nawaz' party had an overwhelming majority in Parliament, the Fourteenth Amendment effectively prevented the Prime Minister from being dismissed by a no confidence vote. A few months earlier, the Thirteenth Amendment took away the President's reserve power to remove a Prime Minister by dissolving Parliament and calling new elections. The amendments removed nearly all checks and balances on the Prime Minister's power, since there was virtually no way he could be legally dismissed.

In Pakistan, once legislators are elected to national or provincial assemblies, there is no way for the people to recall them before the end of their five-year terms. In the past, this has contributed to a sense of immunity on the part of members of the ruling party, and to rampant corruption among leading politicians. The Fourteenth Amendment increased this perception, and contributed to the overwhelming popular support for General Pervez Musharraf's coup in 1999. The Supreme Court subsequently validated the coup on the grounds that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments created a situation for which there was no constitutional remedy.

References

1. Husain Haqqani, Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military (2005), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, page 244.

v t e Constitution of Pakistan
By year	1935 1956 1962 1973 Annex (written 1949, incorporated 1985)
Amendments	I II III IV V VI VII VIII X XII XIII XIV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI
Failed Amendments	IX XI XV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX
Orders	Legal Framework Order, 1970 Legal Framework Order, 2002 Provisional Constitutional Order
* Not passed

• Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan
• 1997 in law