Part III
The Central Organisation

General Assembly, The President, The Central Council, Working Committee, Secretary General, Incharges of Central Departments

The central system of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan shall comprise the following components:

1. General Assembly of the Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan (Article 16).
2. The President, (Article 17), and his appointed Vice President(s), if any, (Article 19) (4)(c).

3. The Central Council (Article 21).

4. Central Working Committee (Article 19) (4), (Article 34).

5. Secretary General (Article 35).

6. Incharges of Central Departments (Article 19) (4)(h), (Article 37).

1. General Assembly

Definition (Article 16)

1. The ultimate powers in all matters of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan shall vest in the General Assembly.

The Session and Status

1. The Central Council or the President can convene the General Assembly whenever they deem it necessary according to the needs of the Jama’at. Also, if two or more provinces of the Jama’at, or Councils of five of the organisational sectors demand for this by passing a regular resolution, it will be necessary to convene the Assembly within a reasonable time.
2. The definition of General Assembly may also include an Assembly to which all the members may not be invited for participation but according to the recommendation of the Central Council only the select delegates from amongst the Jama’at members from every organisational province, division or district may be summoned.

1. There shall be a President of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan, whose status will not be that of the Leader of the Faithful (Ameer al-Momineen) but only that of the President of this Jama’at. Jama’at members shall be bound to obey him in the rightful (Ma’ruf).

2. The Jama’at ’s calling shall be to its creed and objective, not to the person or office of the President.

3. The members of the Jama’at shall make the appointment of the President by direct vote and simple majority shall be decisive in this vote.

3a. At least three months ahead of the expiry of the President’s term of office, the Council shall appoint an Election Supervisor and enact necessary rules for the election.

4. The election of the President shall be for five years, and the Jama’at members may elect the same person more than once should they so desire.

5. It shall be necessary that a new election for Presidency be completed before the incumbent’s term ends. But if this could not happen, the incumbent would continue in office till the successor’s assuming charge of the office, but this duration would not be more than three months.

6. If the office of the President falls vacant for any reason like resignation or dismissal and it is not possible to hold an election for a new President, the Central Council shall elect a President temporarily. In this election simple majority of the vote of the Council will be decisive. This temporary arrangement will be for six months at the most and it shall be necessary to have a new President elected by the members before the lapse of this period.

7. If it becomes inescapable for the President to temporarily abdicate his duties, he will appoint someone from among the members of the Council to act in his place. The period of such an appointment shall not be more than a year and, in case of exceeding six months, the appointment shall have to be ratified by the Central Council.

The Oath (Article 18)

Before assuming the office, it shall be imperative for the President (whether interim or permanent, or acting) to take oath of office as given in Appendix I of this constitution. The President can take this oath at General Assembly, or at a session of the Central Council, or at a local assembly of members, as per situation.

1. The ultimate responsibility for running the Jama’at ’s organisation and the movement shall be of the President and he shall be responsible to the Council and members of the Jama’at.

2. The President shall formulate Jama’at ’s policies and take decisions on important issues in consultation with the Central Council.

3. It shall be binding on the President:

• To give priority to obedience and loyalty to Allah and His Prophet over the rest.
• To consider the service of Jama’at’s objective and mission his foremost obligation.
• To give preference to Jama’at ’s interests and the obligations for its work over his own person and personal benefits.
• To decide among the members of the Jama’at with justice and honesty.
• To protect what is entrusted to him by the Jama’at.
• To abide by this Constitution and do his best to establish the Jama’at’s organisation according to it.

4. The President shall have the following powers:

• Selection of his Working Committee from amongst the members of the Central Council.
• Taking action with the consultation of members whom could be approached for consultation in case when taking immediate action on important issues becomes necessary but the Central Council or the Working Committee could not be convened.
• Appointment of Vice President(s) from amongst the Central Council or with the consultation of the Council.
• Running of administrative affairs of the Jama’at, and use of the Jama’at ’s assets while observing the limitations, if any, imposed in the interests of the Jama’at by the Central Council.
• Admission of members in the Jama’at (Article 7) and their exclusion (Article 90).
• Suspension or dissolution of any subordinate Jama’at. (Article 91).
• Appointment or dismissal of subordinate Presidents, (Article 40, 54, 68, 84)
• Appointment and dismissal of the Secretary General of the Jama’at and the staff of the Central Departments (Article 35, 36, 37).
• Expenditure from the Jama’at ’s Fund (Bayt al-Maal) on the work of the Jama’at (Article 96).
• Extension in the Central Council’s tenure (Article 23)
• Permission to anyone other than the members of the Central Council to attend its meeting (Article 27).
• Ban the participation as observer or in other status of non-members in the meeting of the Central Council (Article 26, 27).
• Convening the General Assembly of the Jama’at (Article16).
• Implementation of the Jama’at ’s decisions according to his discretion.
• Delegation of some of his powers to another person.

3. The Central Council

Composition and formation (Article 20)

There shall be a Central Council, formed according to Article 21, to assist and advise the President, and its name shall be "Markazi Majlis-e-Shura" or "Majlis-e-Shura Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan".

Article 20 a

At least three months ahead of the end of Central Council’s tenure, the President shall appoint an Election Supervisor and vest him with powers required for conducting the election of the new Council.

1. The number of the elected members of the Central Council shall at least be 50, who shall be elected by direct vote of the Jama’at members. Before an election, the President or his appointed Election Supervisor shall determine appropriate constituencies by distributing this strength in proportion to the number of members from each province ensuring that each province has at least one seat.

2. The President shall be the Chair of this Council and shall have the right of casting the tie-vote.

2a. Secretary General of the Jama’at shall be ex-officio member and secretary of the Council.

2b. Vice President(s), if any, shall be ex-officio members of the Council.

2c. Provincial Presidents shall be ex-officio members of the Council.

3. If a seat falls vacant in the Central Council it shall be necessary to fill it within three months.

4. Incharges of the Central Departments shall be eligible for attending and participating in the meetings of the Central Council but shall not be entitled to vote unless they are elected members of the Central Council.

5. Central Staff members shall be among the voters of the electoral constituencies within whose limits they live, but the Incharges of the Central Departments shall be entitled only to vote and cannot be elected to the Central Council.

The Inaugural Session(Article 22)

The President shall convene the inaugural session of the new Central Council within two months of the election of its members, where every member shall individually take the oath of office before the President in accordance with Appendix 2 of this constitution. Afterwards, the President shall apprise them about their duties and responsibilities as well as prevalent situation and state of affairs of the Jama’at.

1. The election of the members of the Central Council shall be for three years, but if the President, because of a change in situation facing the Jama’at or an alteration or a plausible reason, considers it necessary, he can, after consulting the Council, decide for fresh elections.

2. If it is difficult to hold election of the Central Council for some extraordinary circumstances, the President shall be entitled to extend the tenure of the existing Council for upto one year after consultation with the Provincial, Divisional, and District Presidents (that are approachable).

1. The Central Council shall usually sit once a year for a session to be held, under normal circumstances, in the last quarter of the fiscal year. In this session, the report on the work of the Jama’at, the budget and the audit report of the Central Fund for the last year shall be presented; the work of the Jama’at during the past year shall be analysed and assessed, and the next year program shall be drawn up. This session of the Central Council shall be called "Ordinary Session of the Council".
2. The period between two ordinary sessions of the Council shall not exceed 15 months.

1. The President can any time summon an extraordinary session of the Council.

2. Extraordinary session of the Central Council would necessarily be convened in the following conditions:

a. When at least one-fourth of the members of the Central Council demand of the President for convening the session in writing.

b. When the seat of the President falls vacant and there is no deputy, acting or temporarily appointed Ameer – the Central Department for Organisational Affairs of the Jama’at shall convene a session of the Central Council.

Participation of Jama’at members in the Central Council’s Sessions as Observers (Article 26)

Ordinary members of the Jama’at shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Central Council as observers but the President may, in the interests of the Jama’at, revoke this permission for a particular session or part of it.

Participation of non-members in the Session (Article 27)

If the President feels the necessity of inviting a person or persons other than the members of the Council to be part of consultation in some particular issue of the Jama’at, he may invite him/them to the session – but the issue can only be decided with the opinion of the members of the Council.

Quorum (Article 28)

The quorum for the Centre Council’s session shall be one-third of the total number of its members. However, if a session is prorogued for lack of quorum, no quorum shall be required for the next session.

1. In general, all matters shall be decided through consensus. But, in case of differences the decision of the majority of the members present in the session shall be considered to be the decision of the Central Council.

2. If the President disagrees with the decision of the majority of the members of the Central Council, he may postpone it till the next session of the Council, but the decision arrived at in this next session shall be final.

1. It shall be the collective duty of the Central Council and of each member individually:

a. To give priority to obedience and loyalty to Allah and His Prophet over the rest.

b. To always keep an eye on the President, Jama’at, and themselves to ensure adherence to the Jama’at ’s creed, commitment with its mission and observance of true Islamic mode of action.

c. To be regular in attending the meetings of the Council.

d. To forthrightly express their real opinion on all issues according to their knowledge, faith, and conscience.

e. To desist from making permanent groups and blocs within the Jama’at, and should anyone be found so trying, efforts should be made to correct him instead of encouraging or showing indifference to him.

f. To try rectifying any fault in the Jama’at and its work whenever and wherever it is seen.

2. The Central Council shall be vested with the following powers:

1. Formulating the Jama’at ’s policy.
2. Deposing the President provided that 2/3^rd of the elected members of the Central Council pass a no-confidence motion against him.
3. Interpretation and amendment of the Jama’at ’s Constitution, and making changes in the Jama’at ’s set-up.(1)
4. Appointment of Secretary General of the Jama’at and presenting no-confidence resolution against him (Article 35).
5. Appointment of auditor for verification of the Central Fund, and deliberation and necessary action on its report (Article 96).
6. Approval of the central budget of the Jama’at (Article 24).
7. Authority to conduct above-board accountability of President and his subordinate Incharges of the Central Departments, to critically analyse and deliberate on their work.
8. Appointment of central and provincial parliamentary boards and determination of their scope.
9. Appointment of boards, committees, and commissions as required for work in different spheres and departments of the Jama’at and determination of their scope.
10. Convening the General Assembly of the Jama’at, and, when necessary, inviting delegates from amongst the members instead of the ordinary members (Article 16).
11. Giving expression to opinion through the passage of resolutions and other means, and taking other appropriate measures on issue arising within and without the country in connection with the Jama’at ’s mission, objectives and program.
12. Formulation and adoption of rules and regulations for the proceedings of the General Assembly and Central Council sessions.
13. Taking all necessary steps according to the Constitution for the realisation of Jama’at ’s mission.
14. Delegation of its powers, or some of them, along with the conditions that it wants to impose, to the Working Committee or any committee or board composed of its members, or to the President or the Secretary General or any other person or persons.

Dissolution of the Central Council (Article 31)

If a President who had earlier been dismissed with no-confidence motion of the Central Council is re-elected in the new elections, this shall be a no-confidence of the Jama’at on the Central Council and the Council shall stand dissolved on the day the President assumes charge of the office by taking the oath. The elected President shall arrange for the election of a new Council and shall carry on his work in the meanwhile with the assistance and advice of a interim Working Committee composed of the Provincial Presidents.

Article 32

If at any time the number of members capable of performing their duties falls short of even meeting the quorum required for the session of the Central Council, then a council of all District Presidents of the country shall be considered as alternative to the Central Council. This Council shall have the discretion of either working as the Central Council, or arrange for the formation of a new Council according to the Constitution, or devise some other appropriate and practicable formula for assistance and advice to the President keeping intact the spirit of the Constitution.

Article 33

In the event of the President’s office falling vacant, the power to convene the session of the Central Council shall vest, in order, in the Secretary General of the Jama’at, the Central Department for Organisational Affairs, every present member of the Central Council, and every District Chief.(2)

1. There shall be a Working Committee of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan, which shall consist of 15 members(3) whom the President shall select from amongst the members of the Central Council. The President shall be its Chair, Secretary General its ex-officio member and secretary, and Vice President(s), if any, its ex-officio member(s).
2. If one ceases to be a member of the Central Council, shall also cease to be a member of the Working Committee.

3. The President can convene the session of the Working Committee whenever and as many times as he wants.

4. The quorum for the Working Committee session shall be seven, of which at least four shall not be the office bearers (of the Jama’at).

5. A new Working Committee shall be formed after every new election of the Central Council.

6. During all such conditions when the Central Council is not in session or it is difficult to convene it, the Working Committee shall assume all the powers of the Central Council (except those of amending the Constitution and deposing the President). However, the Central Council shall have full power to ratify any of its decision or action, or disapprove it in part or in whole.

5. The Secretary General

Appointment, Dismissal, Duties and Powers (Article 35)

1. There shall be a Secretary General of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan who shall be selected by the President with the consultation of the Central Council.

2. Secretary General shall continue in office only as long as the President is satisfied with his work, but his dismissal shall be only with the consultation of the Central Council or the Working Committee.

3. The Central Council can dismiss the Secretary General through a no-confidence resolution, provided that, in case the President does not agree with it, the number of the members voting in favour of the no-confidence resolution shall not be less than half of the total number of members of the Council.

4. The Secretary General shall be the aide and representative of the President in all affairs of the Jama’at. He shall perform duties and exercise powers that President shall assign him, and he shall be answerable to the President for his work.

5. Before assuming the charge of office, Secretary General shall take before President the oath that is given in Appendix 3 of this Constitution.

Deputy Secretary General(Article 36)

1. The President shall be authorised to appoint one or more deputy secretaries general and distribute among them from the duties and powers of the Secretary General according to his discretion.

2. The status of the Deputy Secretary General whom the President may appoint as acting Secretary General in the absence of the Secretary General shall be the same as given to the Secretary General of the Jama’at in this Constitution.

6. Incharges of the Central Departments

Appointment, Dismissal, Duties and Powers (Article 37)

1. Each Central Department shall be under a separate Incharge appointed by the President according to his discretion.

2. An Incharge of a Department shall continue in office only as long as the President is satisfied with his work.

3. The President shall determine duties and powers of the Department Incharges.

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   (1)The amendments that have been incorporated in the Constitution after its coming into force (June 1, 1957), can be seen in Appendix 5.

   (2)The Central Council in its session of April 1987 approved an amendment for replacing the word ‘Division’ with ‘province’ in Article 31, and ‘local’ with ‘district’ in Articles 32 and 33.

   (3)The Central Council in its session held on Feb. 20-23, 1982, increased the number of the members of the Working Committee from 12 to 15 by amending the Article 34, and this strength does not include President, Vice Presidents, and Secretary General.