KARACHI: On Sunday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif took to X (formerly Twitter) and quipped that: “It seems that one more clause will have to be included in the package of constitutional amendments. The judiciary should -- under the doctrine of necessity -- register itself with the Election Commission of Pakistan under the Political Parties Act. What do you think?”
The defence minister’s pointed tweet seemed to be in response to the SC’s Saturday clarification order in which eight judges of the apex court criticized the ECP for allegedly trying to create confusion about the SC’s July 12 ruling that declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats in parliament, saying that the ECP’s request for clarification was an attempt to delay implementing the decision.
The defence minister’s tweet can also be seen as a reaction to outrage online and by the opposition regarding the government’s attempt to bring about a ‘constitutional package’ that is rumoured to include various amendments including changing the age of retirement of the superior judiciary; the setting up of a constitutional court; and an amendment to Article 63A.
Tweets and vlogs by journalists and lawyers also claimed on Sunday that lawyers would en-masse ‘reject’ any such constitutional amendments.
Meanwhile, speaking to Geo News, Khawaja Asif asserted on Sunday that the government had achieved the magic number in both the upper and lower houses of parliament for the passage of the constitutional amendment, also claiming the support of Maulana Fazl after “his reservations are removed”.