'Consensus reached' on establishment of constitutional bench

ISLAMABAD: After the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) backtracked from demand of a constitutional court, the leading political parties have agreed to creation of a constitutional bench, Geo News reported, citing sources.

The sources from political parties said the matter, earlier focused on the constitutional court, had now moved on to the establishment of a constitutional bench.

After high-level discussions, four leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the PPP claimed an agreement had been reached among all the political parties on the formation of the constitutional bench, as per the insiders.

This comes after another meeting of the special committee on constitutional amendments draft concluded on Thursday. The parliamentary committee’s meeting has been adjourned till noon on Friday (tomorrow).

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 ruling parties to begin a consultation process.

To pass the constitutional amendments, the government requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, with sources indicating a shortfall of 13 votes in the National Assembly and nine in the Senate.

In his remarks after the today’s meeting, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said the government presented its third draft on the judicial package. In its third draft, the government had talked about a constitutional bench instead of court, he said.

“The government has not yet brought up its complete draft,” he added.

The PTI chief said he would later hold a meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the matter as well.

Earlier, the PTI chief claimed that the coalition government's seven Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) would vote against the proposed constitutional amendments.

"The government's numbers are only complete in their books. The government neither consulted its members nor answered out of fear," he told Geo News.

He said he had received the news about the seven treasury benches members' refusal to cast vote from reliable sources.

"The government members said they will not vote even if they are disqualified," he said, adding that the legislators believe those voting in favour of the constitutional amendments would be doing so against their conscious.

Probably, he said, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also knew that parliamentary members of his own party were not going to vote for the amendment.

Talking to media, after conclusion of the meeting, PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah said the constitutional amendments' draft would be completed in two days.

On PTI’s opposition to the amendments, he said the PTI members of the committee, Gohar and Ayub, were helpless as they did not have a mandate.

“We repeatedly asked the PTI for a proposed draft but they have not yet presented their amendments,” he said.

Govt’s draft on judicial package

Sources, on the other hand, revealed that the constitutional court was not mentioned in government's draft which was presented during the parliamentary special committee.

The sources said that a constitutional bench will be formed rather than a federal constitutional court, adding that no party, including the PTI, has any objection to the constitutional bench.

The government has withdrawn its stance on the formation of constitutional courts, said the sources. "The government's draft did not include constitutional courts which was supported by PPP and JUI-F," they added.

According to the insiders, the government’s draft proposed that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) will notify the members of the bench. Moreover, the draft also proposes the process of the reconstitution of the JCP.

The draft also suggested that the chief justice will be picked from the three senior most judges of the Supreme Court and the names will be recommended by the parliamentary committee. Moreover, the strength of the parliamentary will also be changed.

The draft proposed that the parliamentary committee will send its proposal to the prime minister and it will be notified after the president's signature.

The draft also proposed to include six judges in the judicial commission as well as law minister, the attorney general, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, some lawyers, MNAs and senators.

However, the sources said that the JUI-F said the CJP should be appointed on the basis of seniority. They added that the PTI will agree on the formation of the constitutional bench.