Level 1
Constitutional Amendments MCQs set 2 for KPPSC Assistant (BS-16) Pakistan Affairs — 20 solved questions.
Q1. If you want the count of total formal amendments made to the 1973 Constitution up to and including the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Act 2018, which number is correct for standard exam recall?
Answer: 25
Explanation: From the 1st Amendment (1974) through the 25th Amendment (2018), the Constitution of 1973 has been formally amended exactly 25 times - the number standard Pakistani exam syllabuses require students to recall.
Q2. A scenario says “Parliament extends a temporary military-trial window and adjusts related text in the same reform wave as the early 2017 security debate.” Which amendment number is most aligned with that extension theme in common lists?
Answer: The Twenty-Third Amendment Act 2017
Explanation: The Twenty-Third Amendment Act of 2017 extended the jurisdiction of military courts to try civilians accused of terrorism-related offences for an additional two years, continuing a framework first established by the Twenty-First Amendment (2015) after the Army Public School massacre. It also made related textual adjustments to the constitutional provisions governing such trials.
Q3. A federalism essay contrasts “restoring parliamentary supremacy by deleting a president’s assembly-kill switch” with “later special courts for a defined trial class.” Which pair names the right amendments?
Answer: Eighteenth Amendment for the assembly power removal and Twenty-First Amendment for the special courts window
Explanation: The Thirteenth Amendment (1997) deleted Article 58(2)(b), removing the President's power to dissolve the National Assembly and restoring parliamentary supremacy. The Twenty-First Amendment (2015) then created special military courts for a defined period to try terrorism suspects.
Q4. A student timeline places “seats adjustment for former FATA in the National Assembly ahead of full merger law” near the late 2010s. Which amendment is most associated with that bridge step in many notes?
Answer: The Twenty-Fourth Amendment Act 2017
Explanation: The Twenty-Fourth Amendment Act of 2017 adjusted National Assembly seat allocations to provide representation for the merged FATA districts ahead of the formal constitutional merger, serving as a bridge step before the Twenty-Fifth Amendment of 2018 completed full integration of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Q5. Match the leader-linked era to the reform. Who was prime minister when the Eighteenth Amendment Act 2010 passed?
Answer: Yousaf Raza Gillani
Explanation: The Eighteenth Amendment Act 2010 was passed under the PPP government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who served as prime minister from 2008 to 2012. President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent to the amendment in April 2010.
Q6. A flashcard says “chief executive during the Seventeenth Amendment Act 2003.” Which title-name pair best fits the dominant executive of that moment?
Answer: President General Pervez Musharraf as central executive figure
Explanation: During the Seventeenth Amendment in 2003, President General Pervez Musharraf was the dominant executive figure, having imposed martial law in 1999 and holding both the presidency and army chief positions.
Q7. A trick-prone list pairs amendments with military rulers. Which link is accurate for standard papers?
Answer: Eighth Amendment is tied to the Zia-ul-Haq structural changes of 1985
Explanation: The Eighth Amendment to the 1973 Constitution was passed in 1985 during General Zia ul-Haq's rule, inserting Article 58(2)(b) which empowered the President to dissolve the National Assembly at his discretion.
Q8. You must choose which statement best applies the rule “constitutional amendment bills are not ordinary money or casual legislation.” Which option is correct?
Answer: They follow the two-thirds rule in both houses as the basic threshold in ordinary cases
Explanation: Under Article 239 of the Constitution of 1973, a constitutional amendment bill must be passed by each house of Parliament (National Assembly and Senate) by a two-thirds majority of its total membership in the ordinary case. This supermajority requirement distinguishes amendment bills from ordinary legislation, which requires only a simple majority.
Q9. A student says the 1973 Constitution was adopted on 14 August 1973 because that is Independence Day. Which correction about adoption versus commencement is right?
Answer: Adopted 10 April 1973 and commenced 14 August 1973
Explanation: The 1973 Constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 10 April 1973 and came into force (commenced) on 14 August 1973, Pakistan's Independence Day. The confusion often arises because Independence Day is its commencement date, not its adoption date.
Q10. In a “apply the schedule” task you check whether a province kept the same number of general National Assembly seats after the big 2010 rebalancing. Which province is correctly described for post-Eighteenth Amendment Punjab general seats in many official tables?
Answer: 141 general seats for Punjab
Explanation: Following the Eighteenth Amendment of 2010, which revised the formula for seat allocation in the National Assembly based on population, Punjab's general seats were set at 141 out of a total of 272 general seats in the National Assembly. This reflects Punjab's dominant share of Pakistan's population while maintaining the constitutional balance among provinces.
Q11. A coach asks which amendment window increased reserved women seats in the National Assembly from 60 to 70 in the late 2000s narrative some notes still use. Which option matches that packaged increase story?
Answer: The Eighteenth Amendment Act 2010
Explanation: The Eighteenth Amendment 2010 increased the number of reserved seats for women in the National Assembly as part of its broader package of constitutional reforms. This amendment made numerous changes to the composition and functioning of Parliament alongside its landmark devolution of powers to provinces.
Q12. A clinic-style item lists four Roman numerals and asks which one is not a real passed constitutional amendment to the 1973 text in standard numbered sequences. Which numeral is the odd one out?
Answer: XXVI
Explanation: The 1973 Constitution has been amended twenty-sixth times; Amendment XXVI (26th) was passed in 2024. However, at the time many exam papers were set, only up to Amendment XXV existed, making XXVI the "odd one out" as not yet enacted.
Q13. A foreign policy-linked revision card says “Parliamentary monitoring of security policy through a joint sitting requirement for certain extensions.” Which later amendment family is most associated with that monitoring idea in the 2015 security-courts debate?
Answer: The Twenty-First Amendment Act 2015
Explanation: The Twenty-First Amendment Act of January 2015 established military courts for two years to try civilians accused of terrorism-related offences, requiring a joint sitting of Parliament for certain extensions and reflecting security-driven constitutional change.
Q14. Order these events for exam logic. Which sequence is correct?
Answer: Second Amendment 1974 then Eighth Amendment 1985 then Eighteenth Amendment 2010
Explanation: The Second Amendment (1974) declared Ahmadis non-Muslim; the Eighth Amendment (1985) inserted the Bismillah, Islamisation clauses, and the controversial Article 58-2(b); and the Eighteenth Amendment (2010) reversed many of the Eighth Amendment's presidential powers and restored parliamentary balance. This chronological sequence is the standard one taught in Pakistan Studies.
Q15. A “compare two provinces” item states that after the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Act 2018 the former FATA territory became part of which province for constitutional mapping?
Answer: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Explanation: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Act 2018 merged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, extending the provincial legal and administrative framework to these erstwhile tribal regions. This historic merger ended the separate constitutional status FATA had held since 1947.
Q16. Which community’s constitutional definitional clauses were principally recast through the controversial Second Constitutional Amendment tied to twentieth‑century religious politics in Punjab?
Answer: Followers historically linked to Ahmadi denominational histories before the mid‑1970s
Explanation: The Second Constitutional Amendment of 1974 declared members of the Ahmadiyya community to be non-Muslims for constitutional and legal purposes, following intense parliamentary debate and street agitation. This amendment remains one of the most controversial in Pakistan's constitutional history due to its implications for religious minority rights.
Q17. Article 58(2)(b) famously enabled repeated presidential dissolution of the National Assembly and entered the 1973 text mainly through which amendment cycle associated with militarised executive politics after 1977?
Answer: The Eighth Constitutional Amendment
Explanation: Article 58(2)(b), which empowered the President to dissolve the National Assembly at discretion, was inserted into the 1973 Constitution through the Eighth Constitutional Amendment passed in 1985 under General Zia-ul-Haq, converting the parliamentary system toward a semi-presidential model. It was later repealed by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1997 under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Q18. Article 239(4) is the clause students chiefly cite when tutors ask which threshold requires provincial assemblies to endorse certain amendments touching federal‑provincial power sharing. Which statement best matches that guarded procedure?
Answer: It requires resolutions of provincial assemblies when an amendment alters enumerated federal‑structuring matters the Constitution earmarks
Explanation: Article 239(4) of the 1973 Constitution requires that when a constitutional amendment affects the federal structure or provincial subjects specifically enumerated, it must be ratified by resolutions of the required number of provincial assemblies. This clause protects provincial interests from being overridden by a simple parliamentary majority alone.
Q19. Legal Framework Order-era rearrangements consolidating strong presidential discretion were principally translated into textual constitutional clauses through which mid‑2000s amendment act students pair with Musharraf’s transition politics?
Answer: The Seventeenth Constitutional Amendment
Explanation: The Seventeenth Constitutional Amendment of 2003 formally incorporated the Legal Framework Order 2002 into the Constitution, legitimizing Musharraf's changes including the creation of the National Security Council and the President's power to dissolve the National Assembly. It represented the constitutional formalization of martial-law era arrangements as part of Musharraf's transition to a civilian façade.
Q20. During the Nawaz‑led Parliament of spring 1997 which amendment principally deleted the discretionary presidential dissolution latitude popularly debated as Clause 58(2)(b)?
Answer: The Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment
Explanation: The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in April 1997 by Nawaz Sharif's government shortly after its landslide election win, deleted Article 58(2)(b) which had allowed the President to dissolve the National Assembly at discretion. This removed a major extra-parliamentary check that had been used four times since 1988 to dismiss elected governments.