Joint sitting takes up SC bill today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 — returned by President Alvi two days back without approval — will be passed in the joint sitting of Parliament on Monday (today).

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar will put the bill in the House first for consideration at once and then for adoption. Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf will chair the meeting.

It is expected that the bill will conveniently sail through the joint sitting and will be sent to the president for assent with the advice of the prime minister in the late afternoon.

The agenda — issued by the National Assembly Secretariat on Sunday — has provided both points as part of it.

The PTI members will also attend the session and will try to make their presence felt.

Parliamentary sources told The News Sunday that the bill would essentially become a part of the book on the evening of April 19 even if the president did not give his assent before that.

Monday, April 10, would witness hectic activities in three adjoining buildings on Constitution Avenue facing the historic D-Chowk.

Apart from the Parliament House, the Supreme Court’s compound will find Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in-chamber hearing curative reference against the senior-most judge of the apex court Qazi Faez Isa that has been withdrawn by the government.

The chief justice has constituted new benches of the court ignoring the three-member bench’s verdict under Justice Qazi Faez Isa barring the formation of benches till the rules are framed for the purpose. It is to be seen how many judges would adhere to the orders of Justice Isa.

Yet another interesting aspect would be watched with regard to the Supreme Court Registrar Ishrat Ali. He was recalled by the federal government last week and ordered to report to the Establishment Division but he is continuing with the court.

The third building behind the Parliament House is the Presidency where according to the ruling parties, intrigues are brewing regarding various crises.

The National Assembly will have its session in the morning that would be followed by a commemorative gathering to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 1973 Constitution.

Later in afternoon, the most important joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament will be held. All the three events will take place in the National Assembly auditorium.

The National Assembly, under the leadership of Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Constitution, a landmark document that laid the foundation of a democratic and progressive society in the country.

According to the NA Secretariat starting on April 10, a month-long celebration will consist of a series of events that commemorate the founding principles of federal parliamentary democracy, social justice and equality, as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Parliamentary Advisory Committee, constituted by the speaker and headed by Senator Raza Rabbani, has meticulously planned these activities with members from both houses of Parliament.

The speaker will inaugurate the celebrations by laying the foundation stone of the Constitution Monument at the site approved by the committee, opposite the Parliamentary Lodges, Islamabad, which will serve as a permanent reminder of the importance of the Constitution in the nation’s history.

After that, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the Memorial of the Unsung Heroes of Democracy in the Parliament House, paying homage to those who fought for democracy and constitutionalism in Pakistan.

An exhibition showcasing rare pictures of the Constitution’s framers, a commemorative stamp, and original Constitution and other manuscripts will be inaugurated by the Speaker.

The celebration will culminate in the National Assembly Session (National Constitution Convention) in the main assembly hall, attended by MPs and people from all walks of life, chaired by the speaker.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Raza Rabbani and other attendees will pay tribute to the framers of the Constitution and reflect on how it has served as a cornerstone of democracy, justice, and equality in Pakistan.

The session will also pass a number of resolutions related to the Constitution’s recognition as a binding document, its incorporation into the national curriculum, a homage to the Constitution’s framers, and declaring the State Bank of Pakistan building (old National Assembly Hall) as a National Monument.

Meanwhile, the country quietly observed the first anniversary of the brusque ouster of PTI Chairman Imran Khan as Prime Minister on Sunday amid a brewing political, constitutional and judicial crisis.

The incumbent ruling coalition voted him out of office. It doesn’t have much to cheer about except that it saved the country from an imminent default had the former government stayed in power for a few weeks more.

The deal — done by Imran with the IMF — was termed a “booby trap” or a “landmine” by the new administration.

The deal dented the economy so hard causing an unbearable price-hike, which discredited the new rulers since it’s taxing the common man.

The months-long political uncertainty came to an end around midnight one year ago when the marathon session of the National Assembly decided no-trust motion against the then prime minister Imran and threw him out.

All PTI stalwarts were in the lower house of the Parliament to watch the event except Leader of the House and the 22nd prime minister.

He turned out to be the first prime minister in the country’s history who was removed by the Parliament through a vote of no-confidence.

The deplorable aspect of the whole episode was that the PTI resorted to undemocratic tactics and mutilated the Constitution to avert the no-trust move.

In the first step, a deputy speaker of the NA who was disqualified by the election tribunal for rigging the elections to get a berth in the House, rejected the no-confidence motion without ascertaining the will of the House.

The Leader of the House immediately advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly who obliged him within no time. The whole process was completed in less than an hour.

The apex court intervened and after a hectic struggle the counting became possible after restoring the National Assembly.

Imran couldn’t complete four years in the office, as the country’s history has been marred with political instability. No prime minister has ever been removed from office through a no-trust motion. With the promise to “rebuild and restore Pakistan” the PDM was jolted by a split when the PPP and ANP parted ways with it in a few months of its coming into being. The PDM won the two parties back in the last months of 2021 and succeeded in attaining its immediate goal.

Since then, the PTI has been pursuing the agenda to destroy stability and the government trying hard to rid the country of the economic crisis.

The whole year witnessed a tug-of-war between the two and incidentally Imran failed in attaining his all aims including the appointment of army chief of his choice, general elections on an early schedule and getting Pakistan defaulted like Sri Lanka.

The PDM leadership isn’t exuberant about celebrating the anniversary of the ouster of Imran but it reminded that PPP Chairman Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had congratulated the whole nation and the House on the day of victory, “as for the first time in the history of the country, a no-confidence motion has succeeded and we have made history”, claiming that the “selected” who had proved himself to be an “undemocratic burden” on the country saw the end of his rule.

“Democracy is the best revenge,” Bilawal had said. PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry, who had served as state minister interior, Sunday extended his felicitations to the nation for “having rid itself of the PTI’s reign”.

“I congratulate you on attaining freedom from those who emptied the national treasury and left the nation hungry,” he said.

“I congratulate you on a year of freedom from the cruel predators who usurped media freedoms, from thieves of wheat, sugar, ghee, medicines, fertilisers, electricity and gas,” he added.

Ironically, however, all sins that Chaudhry accused the PTI of having committed shouted right back at the coalition government as the ousted party termed it “a year of imposed fascism” instead.

In a series of tweets, the PTI lamented the “failures” of the current regime.

PTI leader and former federal minister Shireen Mazari said, “The fascism being spread since last year is unacceptable and people have sent this clear message repeatedly to the imported government and its handlers”. PTI General-Secretary Asad Umar, on the other hand, decried the government’s failure in grappling with the country’s economic woes.

Asad, who was removed from finance ministry unceremoniously by his mentor Imran after a few months in office, has claimed that “Never in the history of Pakistan has the growth rate reduced by tenfold in a single year, as it has done after the regime change conspiracy,” he said.