PTI decides to join JCP

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has finally agreed to join the  Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) but the implementation of the decision remains subject to the approval from party founder Imran Khan. 

A confirmation of the development came with a statement from the party’s political committee, which said that the PTI has agreed to nominate members from the opposition benches to represent the party in the JCP.

It stated that the political committee was briefed that the commission would serve as a long-term body, with the two opposition members' roles considered crucial in its decision-making.

The PTI political committee unanimously approved this recommendation, which will be forwarded to the core committee for endorsement.

If Khan approves the committee's decision, he will also greenlight the opposition representatives nominated to the commission, the statement added.

Separately, PTI’s parliamentary party also greenlighted the political committee’s decision to join the judicial commission.

According to a statement, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja attended the meeting — chaired by Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub.

The meeting also approved nationwide protests and a schedule of public gatherings.

During the meeting, the parliamentarians expressed their determination to participate in the public meetings.

The participants also discussed the country’s overall political situation and the recently enacted 26th Constitutional Amendment.

They also considered a legal strategy to oversee the “politically driven” case filed against PTI founder. “He [Imran Khan] has been kept in solitary confinement for political purposes,” the statement noted.

“All parliamentarians stand by PTI’s ideology,” it said, vowing stringent action against those who betrayed the party.

The judicial commission, headed by the chief justice, will be responsible for hiring Supreme Court judges.

The commission will include the four most senior judges, the Federal Law Minister, the Attorney General, and representatives from both the National Assembly and Senate, along with a representative from the bar councils, who have at least 15 years of experience.

The commission will establish the number of constitutional benches and judges within the Supreme Court and High Courts.

The JCP will be reconstituted after the passage of 26th Constitutional Amendment, recently pushed through by the ruling coalition. The constitutional tweaks were largely opposed by the former ruling party.

The PTI has also announced its unyielding opposition to any upcoming constitutional amendments that the government may seek to introduce, as sources say Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto have more recently discussed the "27th constitutional amendment".