Judicial package: JUI-F refuses to back govt's bid to form constitutional court

Firmly sticking to its previous stance, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) on Saturday refused to back the government’s proposed constitutional package in its current form and suggested to constitute a constitutional bench instead of establishing a separate court to hear constitutional matters.

The development came during a special parliamentary committee meeting held today to discuss the contentious constitutional amendment.

The constitutional package, among other things, aims to set up a federal constitutional court and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years.

The government had attempted to present the bill to amend the Constitution last month, but its allies as well as members from the opposition benches vehemently opposed the proposal, forcing the administration to begin a consultation process.

It is pertinent to mention here that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser attended the key meeting via video link, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was not among the attendees.

Hoping to reach a consensus with the PPP on a joint draft, JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said the drafts prepared by the two parties had just one difference of constitutional court and constitutional bench. Otherwise, he said, his party had no objection to the PPP’s rest of the draft.

Meanwhile, the special parliamentary body’s meeting was adjourned till October 17, while a sub-committee was formed to contemplate all the drafts pertaining to the constitutional amendment. The sub-committee will submit its report to the main committee.

Talking to journalists following the meeting, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said: “We are trying to bring the constitutional amendment with consensus.”

Moreover, sources told Geo News that the government is trying to build consensus on JUI-F’s draft on constitutional amendments. They claimed the ruling parties are on the same page in this regard.

The government held consultations with the parliamentary leaders on its 56-point draft of constitutional amendments, the sources said.

At the outset of today’s meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Omar Ayub complained about arrests of PTI workers, said the well-placed sources.

To which, the law minister asked him to give his suggestion on the constitutional amendment’s matter and leave the other issue for later.

The sources said PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and lawyer Ali Zafar presented their suggestions on the matter.

During his interaction with journalists following the key meeting, PPP leader and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said: “Consultation underway on the draft bills.”

JUI-F’s Kamran Murtaza said that in response to the government’s 56-point draft, we presented a 24-poiont draft in the meeting.

In support of his party’s stance, Kamran said that it would be inappropriate to constitute a constitutional court for just 200 pending cases.

Oct 15 protest in spotlight

During the committee's meeting, the PTI took up the matter of its October 15 protest call with its secretary general Omar Ayub saying that it'll be difficult for his party to move forward with the amendments.

At this, other members of the committee raised their reservations about the protest.

In response, Ayub said that protest was his party's democratic right, blaming the government for resorting to "fascism" as PTI workers were under immense pressure from authorities.

The committee's members, responding to Ayub's comments, said that how can the party form consensus over the amendments on the one hand and resort to violence on the other.

Ayub said that the PTI would present its stance "openly".

The Imran Khan-founded party plans to hold a protest on the same day (October 15) Pakistan is set to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, a move that has drawn severe criticism from the government.